


Akatsuki; The Rise And Fall Of...

by Sekkara



Category: Naruto
Genre: Agent Minato, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, Eventual Smut, F/M, I don't really know where I'm going with this, Itachi and Sasuke hate eachother, Kakashi's a dick, Kakashi's a homewrecker, M/M, Major character death - Freeform, Military Police, Minor Character Death, Organized Crime, Secret Organizations, Slow Build, Sorry Not Sorry, Tattoos, agent naruto, bear with me on this one, only a little bit, tags may change or be added, title may change, video games - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2018-09-21 07:56:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 43,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9538730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sekkara/pseuds/Sekkara
Summary: His feel slapped heavily against the rain soaked ground as he thundered through the streets. His heart slammed into his rib cage, fear willing it to break free. His lungs ached and burned in his chest, silently begging him to stop and allow more oxygen to fill them. He valiantly ignored them, forced himself to go faster, pushed himself harder. He had to put more distance between him and... them.---Naruto Uzumaki's first day on the job was always bound to be an interesting one. The day after his graduation from the Military Academy, he's sent deep into enemy territory as back up for his best friend and colleague. But as he delves deeper into the case, he realises he much prefers just hanging out with Kakashi and maybe the two of them should just get out.'Run away with me,' he says. 'Both of us should get away while we can.'But he's in far too deep and, this time, there's no way out.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Undercover Lover](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4687493) by [SimplyTsundere](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimplyTsundere/pseuds/SimplyTsundere). 
  * Inspired by [Undercover Lover](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4687493) by [SimplyTsundere](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimplyTsundere/pseuds/SimplyTsundere). 



> Ok so you actually have to bear with me on this. Literally all I have for this so far is the prologue and like half of the first chapter. I know where I want to go with this but I'm making no promises that it will actually work xD
> 
> Here's to not being prepared!
> 
> Good luck and enjoy!
> 
> S x

His feel slapped heavily against the rain soaked ground as he thundered through the streets. His heart slammed into his rib cage, fear willing it to break free. His lungs _ached_ and _burned_ in his chest, silently begging him to stop and allow more oxygen to fill them. He valiantly ignored them, forced himself to go faster, pushed himself harder. He _had_ to put more distance between him and... _them._

He could hear them gaining on him, could heat their footsteps slamming on the ground and the echoing splashes as they barreled through puddles he'd avoided. His caution had cost him. It wouldn't be long before they were right on top of him. He pushed himself harder once more.

If they caught up, he wouldn't survive. They'd eat him alive, and he knew that was more literal than figurative. They were sick. And they were twisted. They would do _anything_ to keep their secret safe.

His fingers slipped into his hoodie pocket as he ran, fumbling over the pathetic little pocket knife hidden there. He dared to sigh, pulling it out and flicking it open, gripping it tightly. His pitiful defense against the men chasing him. It would do no good against the fucking meat cleaver Juugo carried. He was fucked.

_Fuck._

He skidded into a couple out on date night, inches away from accidentally stabbing the man as the two collided. The man shouted at him, cursing at him for his careless movements. He ignored the man. Juugo and Kiba were almost on him. He didn't have much time.

Forgoing an apology, he turned down the next alleyway, racing between two apartment buildings and knocking down anything the cluttered along the walls. Anything the could be used as an obstacle. He continued to ignore his lungs screaming in his chest.

Something crashed behind him and he turned back onto the main street. He sped across the road and into the opposite alleyway, praying the crash was his pursuers falling, slowing them down. But he knew his luck that night. Juugo probably barged right through his obstacles like the fucking tank he was.

He could see cars passing slowly by at the other end of the alley, could almost taste the freedom their cover would provide. His lungs, though still aching and burning, seemed to sing joyously to him at the prospect of a break.

He skidded to a halt as someone stepped into view at end of the alleyway, effectively blocking his escape. His stomach coiled into a tight knot as his lungs rejoiced at the break. He glared at the figure blocking his path, unsure as to whether or not they were friend or foe.

The sinking feeling in his gut told him it was the latter.

Another loud clatter sounded behind him and he chanced a glance back. Juugo hobbled around the corner, Kiba hot on his heels with a feral grin plastered across his face. He bit his lip, looking back to the figure before him, his worst fears realised. They had him trapped.

"What?" The person - a woman - cackled quietly to herself as she watched him. "Did you _really_ think you'd get away with it?" She asked, sneering at him. She made no advancement towards her prey. The two goons behind him, however, did. He tensed as he felt them inch closer towards him. He returned his attention to the woman, trying to place where he knew her voice from. "Did you _really_ think you could _fuck_ with us and get away with it? Oh, Neji, you poor, naive little boy."

He - Neji - growled low in the back of his throat and sent the woman his best glare, mind whirring. "So, are you the one in charge? How about you and I take a walk together? We could stop off at the nearest police station and you could turn yourself in. It would save me a lot of trouble."

The woman barked out a harsh laugh, throwing her head back with pure mirth. Neji shot a look over his shoulder during her temporary distraction. Juugo and Kiba stumbled closer to him. The woman's raucous laughter died down to a quiet chortle and she covered her mouth delicately with her hand. "Oh yeah, I can see what the boss liked about you. Not afraid to speak your mind. That's what got you into trouble in the first place, right?"

Neji stiffened, Kiba now right behind him and pressed against his back, tauntingly. His fingers trembled around the pocket knife as the younger male pressed his own blade teasingly into the base of his spine. Kiba chuckled softly into his ear, pushing the blade gently into his skin and running his tongue over the shell of Neji's ear. The older man shivered with disgust.

"Drop it." Kiba growled, running the blade up and down Neji's spine twice, letting it rest below the ribs on his left side on the second run down. His free hand ran up Neji's right arm, the fingers slipping around Neji's throat. Reluctantly, the older man let the pathetic blade tumble from his fingers, clattering loudly against the concrete.

"Not feeling talkative anymore, Neji?" The woman ahead laughed, stepping forward and into the light. Neji's breath caught in his throat. His heart stopped. His eyes widened in recognition. "What's wrong? Weren't expecting to see little old me?"

Neji shook his head wordlessly, staring at the woman before him, hardly daring to believe what he was seeing. She smirked at him, her gaze flicking behind him. She jerked her head and unbelievable pain shot up Neji's spine. He screaming, being pushed to his knees by Kiba's blade.

 _"Bitch."_ He hissed out through gritted teeth, glaring up at her as she closed in on him.

"Dear, sweet, Neji. Don't waste your breath, love." The woman knelt down in front of him and gripped his chin with perfectly manicured nails. "I have a few questions for you and I would prefer it if you didn't die on me right away."

"Fuck you." He grit out, spitting at her and catching her cheek. Kiba growled, twisting the blade and Neji screamed out once more. The woman threw his chin from her grip and pushed herself to her feet, storming away from the three men and wiping the saliva from her cheek.

"I doubt he has any useful information, anyway." She said, glancing over her shoulder at him, her eyes cold. _"Kill_ _him_."


	2. Chapter One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this was supposed to be up yesterday but I didn't get it finished until like 1am this morning so I found somewhere soft to pass out for the night instead.
> 
> Anyways, on with the show! Enjoy!
> 
> S x

"Congratulations, Naruto." His father muttered, the first to approach the blond after the ceremony. He held his hand out for his son to shake, a sad - and yet strangely proud - smile gracing his features. "Your mother would be proud of you today."

Naruto glanced at his fathers outstretched hand with a raised eyebrow before pulling the older blond into a tight hug. He squeezed his eyes shut to stave off tears, nodding into his fathers shoulder, not trusting himself to speak.

"Well, well, well." Came the jovial, booming voice of his mentor. He pulled away from his father and grinned shakily at the white-haired man. "Little Naruto's all grown up at last."

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto scoffed, shaking the mans hand. "I suppose you're going back to sitting behind a desk all day, old man?'

"Puh-lease!" He barked out a loud laugh. "Your Chief is more classy than that!"

Naruto and Minato snickered. "Yeah, sure." The younger muttered, shooting a knowing grin to his father.

Jiraiya gave them a half hearted glare, clapping a hand onto the youngest mans shoulder. "Minato, let me borrow your boy for five minutes before everyone over crowds him."

Minato hesitated before nodding slowly and turning to disappear into the crowd. Naruto raised an eyebrow as his father limped away. The grip on his shoulder tightened somewhat and he glanced up at his former mentor.

"What's up, boss?"

"Naruto," The Chief began, swallowing thickly and slinking his arm around the the blonds shoulder, choosing his next words carefully. "Your results were outstanding, as to be expected. The top brass have reviewed them carefully and decided that you would be a huge asset to bring in to our biggest case."

"Sir?"

Jiraiya hesitated as he steered them through the crowds and Naruto's stomach clenched with nerves.

"You've heard of the Akatsuki?" The older man asked, lowering his voice. Naruto swallowed thickly and nodded. "We have someone already on the inside, but she's unable to make anymore headway. She's asked for back up and Superintendent Sarutobi has recommended you."

"Wait, what?" Naruto snapped, pulling away from the man, fuming. Jiraiya kept a tight grip on his shoulder, trying to keep the younger man calm. "I have literally just graduated and you're throwing me into the deep end!"

"I'm sorry. If I'm honest with you, we don't have very many other people we can send in."

"Why?"

"We don't know who leads the organisation, but we can name one person within it, thanks to our Agent." Naruto braced himself as the name tumbled from Jiraiya's lips ad he paled somewhat. "Sasuke Uchiha."

Naruto's stomach dropped and he pulled away from the grip on his shoulder, eyes seeking out someone else in the crowd. He heard Jiraiya calling after him, heard others around him congratulating him with hearty slaps to his back. He ignored them, stumbling passed them in a daze. Raven hair and a kind smile caught his eye and he pushed his way through.

The crowd parted easily for him, revealing his father deep in conversation with Naruto's boyfriend of three years. He stumbled as he reached them, clutching his boyfriends arm. The raven span to face him, confusion and concern marring his features as he gazed down at Naruto.

"Babe? What's wrong?" He glanced up, catching Minato's frown and Jiraiya's lumbering form coming towards them. "They told you." A statement, not a question, and Naruto gave him a shaky nod, over expressive eyes begging him to say it was all some sick joke. He sighed as he boyfriend looked away and closed his eyes.

"This is serious? Itachi, your kid brother is in the Akatsuki?" Itachi nodded, not trusting himself to look at his younger lover.

"Naruto," the weight of Jiraiya's hand was back on his shoulder and his visibly flinched. "I'm sorry to put you in this position, Naruto. Really, I am. Normally we wouldn't allow someone so close to join such an investigation, but we're out of options. As far as we know, Sasuke doesn't know about your relationship with Itachi. You should be safe. But he knows almost everyone else in the department. We need you in on this."

Naruto glanced around at the three men surrounding him, taking in their varying somber expressions. His bit his lip; not even day one on the job and he was already on the books for one of the biggest investigations know to the Konoha Military Police. This would either make his career or break it. His stomach coiled with apprehension.

"Am I allowed a chance to think about it?"

Jiraiya gave him a small smile. "If you accept it, report to my office tomorrow morning at 10AM. If not, we'll work something out."

Naruto nodded slowly, the knot in his stomach making him feel sick. He glanced around at all the people helping celebrate his graduation, sudden claustrophobia gripping him. He needed to get out of there. He needed to leave right away. He couldn't be around them any longer. With a curt nod, he turned on his heel and sped from the room, only vaguely aware of Itachi shouting after him.

He took the stairs two at a time, jumping the last four and landing with a loud thud, stumbling and almost falling. His shoes echoed loudly in the foyer and the receptionist shot him a terrified look as he bolted passed her, practically slamming into the glass doors in his haste. He took one look at the weather and groaned out loud, cursing his luck as he dashed out into the rain and raced home, visibly jolting with every crack of thunder.

He was drenched when he made it back to his apartment building, giving the doorman a curt nod as he passed. He ignored the landlord shouting obscenities at him as he trudged rainwater through the halls and quickly made his way up the stairs. Genma would forgive him later.

He slammed the door behind him and knocked his head back against the dull wood, sighing loudly.

"You could have taken the car, you know."

"Fuck!" Naruto shouted, jumping out of his skin at the sound of his lovers voice. "Jesus, Itachi. You scared the life out of me."

Itachi smiled and stepped closer to the blond, pulling him in for a hug. "Well, that's what you get for running out on me. God, you smell disgusting."

"Gee, thanks for the support." The blond muttered sarcastically, pushing the raven away from him. Itachi laughed quietly, looking his lover up and down.

"I ran you a bath." He said, inclining his head towards the bathroom. "Get out of those wet clothes before you catch your death. There'll be a hot chocolate waiting for you when you get out."

Naruto nodded and brushed passed the older agent on his way towards the bathroom. Once at the door, he paused and glanced over his shoulder at the raven, teeth chewing at his bottom lip. He hesitated only a second longer before blurting the words out without really thinking about them.

"D'you think I can do this?"

Itachi startled at the question and stepped quickly over to the blond, leaning down and pressing their lips together in a brief, chaste kiss. "You're a knucklehead. And you don't think things through all the time." He muttered as they parted and the blond pouted at him. "But if anyone can do this, then it's you."

Itachi pressed another, quick kiss to his boyfriends lips before shooting him a breath taking smile and disappearing into the kitchen. Naruto stood stock still at the bathroom door for several more, long minutes. He pressed his head into the wood, running his tongue over his lips, before heaving out a heavy sigh and slipping into the bathroom, his mind finally made up.

**\----X----**

The following morning - at exactly 9.45am to be precise - Naruto strode through the halls with his head held high. His stomach knotted with nerves and he tried his best to hide it, the comforting presence beside him doing little to calm him. He was only thankful he wouldn't be going in alone and that he had Agent Haruno already on the inside. When he reached Jiraiya's office door - 'Chief Inspector Jiraiya Sannin' emblazoned on the dull wood - he hesitated for a fraction of a second before reaching up to knock. Jiraiya's booming voice rang out and the gentle hand at the small of his back told him Itachi had gone with him as far as he could. With a small nod and a smile of thanks, Naruto opened the door and stepped into the large office.

Jiraiya gave him a wide grin as he came in. "You're early."

"Yes, sir."

"Loosen up a little. Remember all that training I gave you and you'll be fine. Now," he clapped his hands, making Naruto jump, and indicated the chair opposite him. The blond took a seat. "I'll be going briefly over the case file with you, you'll be given all the information we currently have - which I'm sorry to say isn't a lot - and you'll receive your new identity and the corresponding documents."

Naruto nodded along as the man spoke, taking in all the information. His name was to be Jamie Dawson. He was 19 years old, fresh out of sixth form and had a passion for art. He had studied the arts, literature and business during his final years at school - for which he was glad to actually be true - and enjoyed video games in his spare time. Again, true.

The organisation was the Akatsuki. They ran two hotels; on in the heart of biggest city in the country and on in a small town about two hours away from the agency. They also had a small string of night clubs and two tattoo parlors.

Though Agent Haruno hadn't been able to worm her way too far into the organisation, she had managed to confirm some of the rumors. The first being that the larger hotel was actually squeaky clean - the unknown head of the organisation wanted to have a fail safe should anything happen to the smaller hotel or the gaming company and she often had to make the arduous four and a half hour journey there to cover for them. But it was the second, smaller hotel and the gaming company that held all the dirty secrets.

And that's where she - and soon Naruto, too - would be concentrating their investigation.

Naruto swallowed thickly as Jiraiya reeled off the facts and speculations, feeling the knot of nerves tighten in the pit of his stomach. Now more than ever was he grateful he wouldn't be alone.

"Now, normally we wouldn't put someone new on the case, nor someone tied - however remotely - to someone they'll be investigating. However, as I told you yesterday, we're out of options." He paused there, resting his arms on the desk and lacing his fingers together in front of him. "Last week, received a piece of our last agent in the mail."

"Excuse me?" Naruto paled. Surely he had heard that wrong?

"You heard me." His superior replied, any and all of his former friendly countenance gone. "Agent Hyuga's left hand was received, along with a few... unappealing photographs. Agent Haruno hasn't managed to piece together exactly how they found him out, so you'll need to tread very carefully."

"Yes, sir."

Jiraiya nodded, eyeing his newest agent carefully. "Any questions?"

"How long do I have to complete this assignment, sir?"

"As long as the job gets done, take all the time you need."

Naruto nodded and reached for the otherwise abandoned folder on Jiraiya's desk. He could feel his superiors eyes on him, studying him carefully as he flicked aimlessly through the files, committing as much to memory as he could. The tense silence was broken by a knock on the door and Jiraiya granted admittance to his office once more. Naruto continued looking through the file without looking up until the new presence was by his side.

He was greeted by a scarred nose and a wide smile.

"Naruto, this is Agent Umino. He'll be working with you on this case."

The blond hastily got to his feet, shaking the outstretched hand offered to him. "Ah, a pleasure to meet you, sir."

"And you. But remember not to call me sir while we're working." Naruto raised an eyebrow as the two took their seats opposite Jiraiya. "Ah, I assume you haven't got to that part, yet?"

Jiraiya shook his head with a soft smile. "Naruto, during your time on the case, you will be living with Agent Umino, under the pretense of father and son."

"Uh... right. But we don't look like father and son..."

Agent Umino gave him a sad smile. "It's part of the cover story, to protect our identities. If anyone asks, you'll need to tell them your parents couldn't afford to raise you, so they put you up for adoption - which is where I come in."

"Do I have to call you dad?" The blond blanched at the thought. "Cause no offence, but that would be weird."

"No," he laughed. "Iruka will do just fine."

"Right, gentlemen." Jiraiya interrupted, clapping his hands together. "If you have no more questions, I'll ask you to take your leave and pack your things. These are the keys to your new home, and your tickets. Your train leaves in two hours."

The three of them stood and both agents shook their chiefs hand before turning to leave. As Iruka reached out for the door handle, Jiraiya cleared his throat, making them turn back to him.

"Good luck."

**\----X----**

After Naruto raced home, he packed his bags as quickly as he could, making sure to pack his X4, a large chunk of his games, and his art supplies as well. If he could get away with gaming while on assignment, he wasn't gonna complain. He had little over forty-five minutes to kill before he was due to meet Iruka, so he headed out to the cafe around the corner from his apartment, dropping a quick text to Itachi and dragging his suitcases along behind him. When he got there, Itachi was already waiting for him.

"Hey, babe." The older man greeted as Naruto flopped down into the empty seat and handed his boyfriend his phone. Itachi raised an eyebrow.

"What? Don't judge, just change your name in my phone."

"Why?"

"Cause I don't know how long it'll be before I can see you again. Nothing to stop me from texting you, though."

Itachi chuckled and keyed in his new name with a little heart so Naruto would know it was him. The blond had already dug into the chicken burger he had bought when he slid the phone back across the table.

"God, I love you," Naruto moaned around a mouthful. "I'm going to miss our lunch dates. I hope this doesn't take too long."

"Considering how long Sakura has been on the case, I think it will do."

Naruto grunted and grabbed his phone, checking the name Itachi had chosen. He scoffed. "Ian? Really?"

Itachi shrugged. "It's short and to the point."

"What, just like you?" Naruto grinned, laughing loudly as his boyfriend kicked him under the table. "Ow, I was kidding I swear!"

Itachi gave him a small smile and got to his feet as the blond finished his burger. "C'mon, I'll walk you to the station."

"Wait, haven't you gotta get back?"

Itachi shrugged, grabbing the handle of the larger suitcase and wheeling it out of the shop before Naruto could argue further. The younger agent scrambled to his feet and only just remembered to grab his other two bags before racing after his boyfriend. He gave Itachi a confused look as he caught up.

"Everything okay?" He asked, lacing their fingers together. Itachi gave him a curt nod.

"I'm fine."

"Liar."

The older man sighed quietly, unconsciously tightening his grip on the suitcase handle. He hated how well the blond could read him.

"I'm just worried for you, is all."

"Don't be." The blond said with a grin. He squeezed Itachi's fingers reassuringly. "I'll be back before you know it and all those punks will be in jail."

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Did you just call them punks?"

"Yeah. Whatever. Look, you know what I mean. What are you so worried about?"

"My brother -"

"Doesn't know me. And I only know him by name. So it's not like I can freak out with one look at him and give myself away."

Itachi sighed, still unsure, and unhooked his fingers from Naruto's, running them through his hair instead. "Just promise me you'll be careful."

Naruto gave him a small smile and a nod, reaching for his hand again as they turned into the station. "I promise. I'll text you at least once a day, alright?"

"You better."

Naruto grinned at the childish pout his boyfriend gave him and leant up to press a quick kiss to Itachi's lips. Itachi scoffed slightly as the blond pulled away and he shook his head, lacing his fingers through Naruto's once more and leading him into the station. Naruto raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?" He asked, waving halfheartedly as he spotted his 'father' at the other end of the station. Itachi shook his head, grinning to himself.

"Nothing. We're like some loved up teenagers splitting up because one of us is moving away."

Naruto chuckled quietly and reached up, wrapping an arm around Itachi's neck and pulling him down to meet half way. He pressed their lips together, letting them slide against one another for a moment before running his tongue along Itachi's bottom lip.

Iruka coughed awkwardly behind them, stopping them before it could get anymore heated. "Wouldn't want to miss our train." He muttered, cheeks tinted red as the pair pulled away from each other.

Naruto nodded to him, turning back to his dark haired lover and giving him another quick kiss before reaching out for the suitcase. "I'll let you know when we get there."  
Itachi gave him a stiff nod, barely even acknowledging Iruka as the older man grabbed his own suitcases. Instead, he watched quietly as the two showed their tickets to the guard and pushed through the gates, onto the platform. A few seconds later, and they were gone.


	3. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, new chapter! I like new chapter days!
> 
> Anyways, I'm trying to make sure I don't rush this so if at any point it seems rushed, yell at me and I'll slow it down some, kay? ;3
> 
> S x

The journey to their new home was both long and arduous, leaving the two agents tired, irritable and ready to collapse on their new beds. Naruto was pretty sure he would sleep for the next sixteen hours with no complaints. He hated travelling, trains most especially. They were noisy and crowded and someone, with no exceptions, always stood on his foot at least once.

Iruka had tried to use the journey time effectively and, while they couldn't speak about the case in public, he spent the majority of the time trying to help Naruto slip into the undercover roll with more practised ease. From the moment they left Chief Sannin's office, he refused to call Naruto by his given name - calling him Jamie instead, as he rightly should - and began treating him like a father would a son; he even went as far as to 'treat' Naruto to a drink and snacks for the trip.

Most of his efforts, however, we wasted.

When they reached their stop and left the platform, the pair slowly and silently ambled down to the car park under the station, dragging their luggage along behind them. There, they met a rather exuberant young man who couldn't have been much older than Naruto. A very shy little boy was hiding behind the man and clinging to his trouser leg, watching in horrified awe as the man created Iruka like an old friend.

The man was Iruka's cousin - his real cousin, not one faked for the job - and they hadn't seen one another for a few years. The strange group stood beside a red Mini Cooper, the two youngest listening in awkward silence as the others caught up with one another. Naruto tuned it out for the most part, only listening out for his name in case Iruka was ever going to introduce him.

"Hey, Earth to Jamie!" Came his 'fathers' voice and Naruto jolted, returning his attention to the conversation, a blush creeping up his neck. "Wakey, wakey."

"Sorry," Naruto mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Daydreaming of my bed."

The cousin laughed loudly, almost mimicking the blond as he scratched at the back of his own neck. "Not a problem. It was a long journey, no?" Naruto nodded and the man gave him a wide grin. "I won't keep you much longer. I don't expect you actually remember me? You were, what? Ten when we last met? Eleven?"

"Ten," Naruto confirmed, silently proud of himself for the lie as he allowed the man to give him a warm hug. "It's good to see you again...?"

The man laughed again and turned back to his younger cousin. "Didn't even remind the kid of my name? You had how long on the trip?"

"Yeah, yeah." Iruka grumbled, playfully punching his cousin's arm. He shot a grin to the boy still hiding behind the man's legs. "Is your old man always like this, Nagato?"

The boy blushed as he was addressed but nodded all the same and Iruka laughed again.

"I told you you'd end up scarring the boy for life, Yahiko."

Yahiko scoffed, throwing a set of keys at the older agent. Iruka just barely managed to catch them as his cousin and son turned and piled into the Mini. "Whatever," he huffed with a grin, opening the driver side window and leaning out to finish their conversation. "Yours is the beaut next to mine. Less of the piss taking or next time you need a favour you can ask that brother of yours."

It was Iruka's turn to scoff, twirling the keys on one finger. "He'd do anything for me if I asked him and you know it."

"Sure," Yahiko laughed, settling into his seat and starting the engine. "You keep telling yourself that. Anyways, listen, Konan will have my head if we're late for dinner so we've gotta go. We need a boys night out sometime, especially now the kids old enough to drink. Let us know when you're free and we'll sort something out."

"Will do."

"Hey, Jamie. Great to see ya again, kid. Do us a favour and keep out of trouble for the old man. I don't think he can take anymore grey hairs!"

Naruto smiled, secretly jealous of how easily the lie came to the mans lips, and agreed with a small nod. Iruka had asked Yahiko to get a car ready for him upon his arrival and the bright haired man delivered; as he pulled out of the parking space and revealed the sleek, black Jaguar XF behind it, Iruka almost drooled.

Naruto waited until they were safely ensconced within the relative privacy of Iruka's car and driving out of the town centre before asking a few questions that had been bugging him since they arrived. 

"Hey, Iruka?"

"Hmm?" Came the slightly disinterest response - he was still fawning over his car.

"How come you were put on this assignment? Didn't you used to live around here?"

Iruka's hands tightened around the steering wheel and he clenched his jaw, forcibly keeping his eyes on the road.

"I haven't lived here for almost twenty years. It's doubtful anyone will remember me. I was only eleven when I moved to Bournemouth to live with my older brother."

Naruto noticed the tension in the scarred mans shoulders and let him be, allowing them to continue the drive in an uncomfortable silence. However, the schools were apparently letting out and they had been stuck behind a bus load of school kids for the last twenty minutes. And Naruto couldn't take it anymore.

"Can I ask you something else?" The tension that had slowly begun to ease from Iruka snapped straight back and the blond hastily added, "Less personal, I promise."

The older Agent glanced at Naruto from the corner of his eye before focusing his attention back on the road and giving him a small, barely noticeable, nod. Naruto nodded back and looked out to the road ahead of them, still blocked by that damned bus.

"The chief told me that the Akatsuki - somehow - know who almost all of our agents are. I'm an exception because I've only just graduated the academy. How come they don't know about you?"

Iruka huffed a gentle laugh; he'd been wondering whether or not Naruto had worked that one out. All previous awkwardness lifted between them and he shoot a glance over at the boy.

"I've been working on a case in Germany for the last five years." The older man muttered. He clenched his jaw again, however this time he didn't seem so upset by the conversations direction. "I got back two months ago. Because of the duration and nature of my mission, I was granted a months leave which I spent with my brother down in Bournemouth. That was after my reports were written up, of course, and then my evaluations. I guess you could say I've been off the radar for so long I'm pretty much non existent. This is my first assignment since I got back. I'll be taking more of a back seat on this one, kind of just guiding you. Though I will be doing my own investigating, also."

"Wait, wait, wait. Back up a little." Naruto choked out, staring at the man, completely bewildered. "You were on one assignment for five years? What the hell were you doing?"

Iruka gripped the steering wheel a little tighter once more but quickly relaxed his fingers, turning off of the main road and finally away from the bloody bus. Naruto didn't miss the movement.

"That's a story for another time. I'm still not allowed to discuss it until the trials are all over and done with."

The blond nodded, getting the feeling that whatever the man was hiding about his past in this town had something to do with that last assignment. But he daren't ask. This was most likely going to be a long job and he really didn't want to get off on the wrong foot with a man he would be living and working with for the next however many weeks or months. The silence for the rest of the trip was, thankfully, a companionable one broken only by Iruka's muttered bouts of road rage.

The final leg of their journey last only a further thirty-two minutes (Naruto had been counting) and at last they pulled up in front of their new, albeit temporary, home. Naruto gave the building a weary glance as he helped Iruka heave their luggage from the boot of the car. A quaint little bungalow stood before them, nestled in a row of bungalows that looked exactly the same. Naruto held back a sigh; he had known this so called town was a quiet, backwoods town but this?

He honestly couldn't see a dangerous organisation like the Akatsuki working in a place like this. It was like one giant retirement home with a nursery right next to it.

 _This is gonna be a long job_. He thought sullenly.

After a light and rather late lunch - in the form of some sandwiches Iruka had the foresight to prepare for them - the two agents decided they would have a quick look around the shopping centre down the road from their new home and try to familiarise themselves with some of the area.

Naruto wondered down the path to the front of their tidy, little garden while the older agent argued with the door that didn't want to lock. He opened the gate that led to their garden and stepped out onto the sidewalk. Across the road, a silver car pulled into the bungalow opposite them.

This was a much nicer looking building with an stunning garden filled with no less than eight dogs of varying breeds. It just looked a lot more... posh than the rest of the street and Naruto couldn't help but admire it. The owner got out of the car, cigarette hanging limply between his lips, and began pulling bags from the back seat.

Naruto stared, silver hair that stuck up every which way and a long scar running down the left cheek catching his eye. The man caught him staring and Naruto looked away quickly, a fierce blush spreading across his cheeks. This was certainly gonna be interesting.

**\----X----**

On the sixth day since the move, Naruto found himself sat outside one of the (many) cafes in the small town centre. A steaming mug of coffee sat on the table next to him and he stared out across the town, mind racing.

So far, they had had no luck tracking the organisations movements, nor had they had any contact with the third agent already here. Naruto was getting disheartened. With a sigh, he returned his focus to the sketch in front of him and added a few details as he let his mind wonder. He always found his thoughts came together better when he was drawing.

He had no way to contact Sakura and let her know both he and Iruka were in town, though he'd been informed that she already knew. So, for now, he had to figure out a way to get in close with her and the people she was dealing with before trying to climb a little higher. The only two leads he had, after sifting through the case file Chief Sannin had given him, was the hotel at the top of the hill and Sasuke Uchiha (and Naruto still wasn't sure what he looked like as the only photo they had was of the Uchiha when he still attended school. Apparently he didn't think much of having his photo taken anymore). They didn't have much more on the behind the scenes dealings.

With another sigh, he took a long drink from his now lukewarm coffee before looking back to the buildings he was sketching. And he couldn't believe his luck.

Sitting opposite the cafe was a small, disabled car park (in which several people had parked who shouldn't have) and a plain, black Land Rover pulled in. It parked in one of the closer spots to the cafe and four people - three men and one woman - got out and entered the cafe. Two of the four glanced over at him as they went inside and Naruto pretended to be thinking of what to sketch next.

He knew Sakura right off the bat; he'd been good friends with her whilst at the academy, despite her being two years older than him. He had to force himself not to grin at her as she passed. She, it seemed, had to hold back an eye roll as she entered the cafe. One of the men with her was almost the spitting image of Itachi, though he lacked the friendly demeanour the older Uchiha flaunted. His eyebrows were tightly knotted into a frown and Naruto was almost glad he didn't send a glare his way.

The second man had an almost feral grin on his face as he spoke to the Itachi lookalike, though most of the rest of his face was hidden by his furry coat hood. Naruto had to admit, he wouldn't have put this man down as a member of an illicit organisation, but then he knew you could never really tell.

It was the third man that really caught his eye, the one that spared a glance in his direction as he passed. It was the man with the eight dogs living opposite Naruto and, this time, he had a mask covering the lower half of his face. The silver hair - that apparently defied gravity - was still sticking up in every direction and there was a cigarette hanging limply between two fingers, ready to be lit.

Naruto took a mental picture of these three men to file away descriptions later.

He finished his coffee, trying to leave enough time between the group entering the cafe and him so as not to look suspicious, before he pulled out his wallet and disappeared inside. The group was sat at a table right by the window and from the counter, Naruto couldn't hear their conversation. He sullenly ordered another coffee and pretended to be looking at the cold drinks while he waited, inching closer to the group with the hopes of hearing their conversation.

No such luck.

He took his new coffee back outside and pulled up his sketch, thinking up a way to get in close to this group.

He thought about trying to give Sakura his number and pretending he was interested in her but the Itachi lookalike had an arm wrapped firmly around her shoulder and he didn't particularly like the idea of being punched in the face. Old school friends would probably be a red flag with these guys, too, so he would have to find another way in.

As he contented himself with a lack of a plan and slurped at his coffee, the cafe doors opened once more and the group left. Once they were outside, Sakura was summarily dismissed with instructions to return in a few days with 'updates'. The Itachi lookalike (whom Naruto was convinced was Itachi's younger brother, Sasuke) and the as of yet unnamed Man bid their goodbyes to the silver haired man and got back into the the Land Rover.

The silver haired man lit his cigarette and watched them pull away before glancing down at the blond. Naruto continued to busy himself with his sketch, trying to ignore the mans presence beside him. The tension in his shoulders eased when the man moved away and he reached a hand out for his coffee.

Only to find his mug was gone.

Naruto's head shot up, confused, and his gaze settled on the man taking a deep drink from his coffee, mask bunched up around his neck. The blond frowned.

"D'you mind? I was kinda drinking that."

"Really?" The man grinned. "Cause it sure else hell seemed like you were checking someone out. Haven't quite figured out which one of us it was though."

Naruto blushed furiously and scoffed, returning his eyes to his sketch despite being unable to make his hand move. "Don't know what you're talking about." He mumbled.

The man laughed and put the, now empty, mug back down on the table with a delicate thud. "Sure, sure. You just moved in opposite me, right?"

Naruto glanced up at him from behind his fringe, eyes roaming over this mans face and taking a mental picture, while his mind raced with unanswered questions. "Yeah," he all but grunted eventually. "Last week."

The man nodded thoughtfully. "With your lover?"

Naruto gave him a disgusted glance. "My dad."

The man gave him another grin and put his almost finished cigarette between his lips before leaning over and holding out his hand. "Then allow me to introduce myself. I'm Kakashi."

The blond gave him a curious look as he slowly reached out and shook the mans hand. "Jamie."

"So." Kakashi said, abruptly pulling his hand away and putting his cigarette out. "Which one of us were you checking out?"

Naruto spluttered, blushing furiously. "I wasn't!" He glared at the man, lowering his voice. "If you must know I'm in a long term, long distance relationship."

Kakashi leant in a little more and beckoned Naruto to do the same. With a confused frown, Naruto mimicked the strange man, leaning across the table to meet him half way. The silver haired man gave him a wide, toothy grin and grabbed Naruto's chin, smashing their lips together in a searing, heated kiss that the blond found himself eagerly responding too. He pulled away with a gasp, realising what he was doing, and wrenched his chin free from Kakashi's grip, silently praying his cheeks didn't look as hot as they felt.

"What the hell are you doing?!" He hissed, snatching his things up and shoving them haphazardly into his bag. Kakashi grabbed the forgotten pencil before the blond could and quickly scribbled down his mobile number at the corner of the sketch.

"Give me a call if Mr. Mysterious starts to bore you."

And with that, Naruto's strange neighbour got to his feet and wondered away, hands stuffed into his pockets and a cheeky grin on his face. Naruto stared after him, hardly daring to believe what had just happened.

He grabbed the pencil and the sketch, tearing the corner off and shoving the rest into his bag. He spun on his heel then and marched out of the shopping centre, the torn page clenched between shaking fingers. It was only when he was half way home that he stopped dead in his tracks, realisation hitting him like a train.

If Kakashi was hanging around with Sasuke and Sakura, then maybe he was part of the Akatsuki. And maybe, just maybe, Naruto had found his way in.


	4. Chapter Three

Naruto spent the following three days holed up in his room, leaving only to relieve his bladder and feed himself. Iruka left him to his own devises, figuring he was there if the blond needed him, and continued on with his own, separate investigation.

The first day in his self imposed confinement, Naruto spent sketching Kakashi and his nameless companion (paying as little attention to Kakashi's features as possible while he worked) and he found himself secretly proud of his photographic memory for faces and his artistic skills. The sketches came out looking very lifelike and he added them to his case file next to Sasuke's picture.

He read through the scattered information they had on the Akatsuki once more after his sketches were finished, paying particular attention to Sasuke's file. Itachi had filled their bosses in with as much information as he could, though until recently details like current whereabouts were unknown. Itachi didn't talk about his life before joining Konoha MP, so the blond was very surprised to see Itachi's mother and father also had their own little files as well.

" _'Lost contact with my entire family (bar one) when I emancipated myself at the age of thirteen.'_ "Naruto muttered, reading the file aloud. His head span, a thousand and one questions chasing each other around his head. Was the whole Uchiha clan involved in this? " _'My cousin, Shusui, supported my decision to leave and mimicked my actions several months later. I haven't seen nor heard from him since he moved to Japan four years ago.'_ Oh, this is a picture of him."

He studied the picture of Itachi's cousins for several long moments, amazed that it seemed all of the Uchiha clan had dark hair and dark eyes and he found himself wondering if any of them had a different colour hair or something. 

A flash of silver crossed his mind and he blushed furiously.

He spent the next two days buried under his duvet, emerging only for necessities.

On the fourth day, the only word Naruto could use to describe himself upon waking up was; _gross._ He'd forgone showering for the passed three days and he now just felt gross. His skin and hair felt greasy and disgusting, his hair now dull and laying flat against his head instead of its usual spiky mess. His mouth felt like it was full of cotton and their was a distinctly disgusting smell coming from his armpits.

He was very proud of himself when he dragged his body into the shower.

While his body was now clean and smelt significantly better, his head was still in a mess. He agonised over what he dubbed ' _that damned fucking kiss_ ', and while it was just that - just a kiss - guilt still gnawed at him. He didn't see it as just as kiss, he'd betrayed Itachi's trust and he was furious with himself.

The shower hadn't helped him there.

_Dammit._

Naruto wasn't quite ready to face the day just yet but his stomach growled angrily at him, so he wandered into the kitchen in his boxers, a random game bleeping at him from his phone. Iruka glanced briefly at him as he trudged in, but didn't say anything about his state of undress (Naruto didn't actually know if it bothered him or not but he walked around like this most mornings, so bothered or not he should at least be used to it). The blond made himself some toast and a coffee, taking a seat opposite his temporary dad, and the two of them continued in silence for several, long minutes.

"Have you finished your sulking?" Iruka asked, breaking the easy silence without looking up from his paper.

"What?" Naruto startled. "I wasn't sulking!"

Iruka gave him a knowing smirk and put his newspaper to one side, folding his arms on the table in front of him. "Alright. You weren't sulking. Tell me why you've locked yourself in your room for the last three days, then."

Naruto shot the man a hard glare, irritation growing with each passing second that Iruka remained unaffected by it. A silent staring contest ensued, the blonds eye twitching as the older agent simply smirked at him, unmoving.

"Alright, fine!" Naruto snapped, throwing his hands up in almost mock defeat. He sighed loudly, dropping his phone carelessly to the table and resting his cheek on his fist, fixing the older man with another fierce and ineffective glare. " _Maybe_ I was sulking."

Iruka shook his head with a small smile and took a long drink of his almost cold coffee. The blond mimicked him, trying not to let his emotions show on his face lest Iruka guess what he'd done.

"Listen," the scarred man began after a long pause between them. "I told you before that I was to be taking a backseat on this operation. I'm here to help and to guide you on your first assignment." He paused, watching Naruto's reaction carefully before continuing. "That being said, I'm also playing the role of your father. If there's something bothering you, you can tell me."

Naruto slid his phone back over to him and fired up the game again, forcing himself to stare at the screen despite Iruka's own gaze burning into the top of his head. His thoughts raced each other through his mind, each a question more difficult for him to articulate than the last. In the end, he settled on what was bugging him the most.

"I met the guy who lives opposite us." He mumbled, taking a noisy slurp of his drink and keeping his eyes glued to the lit up screen of his phone.

Iruka raised an eyebrow, unsure as to where the blond was going with this. He watched his partner silently, unwilling to push him, but when he didn't say anything else Iruka knew he would have too.

"The young guy with all the dogs?" He prompted. Naruto nodded. "He seems like a nice enough guy."

Naruto scoffed. "He's full of himself!"

Both of Iruka's eyebrows shot skywards this time. "What the hell did he say to provoke that?"

Naruto's cheeks burned scarlet, embarrassed by his outburst, and kept his gaze firmly in front of him.

After a few moments hesitation, the blond sighed heavily and told his partner everything that had happened the other day, including Kakashi's kiss.

Iruka sat quietly as he listened, plans and ideas already racing around his mind. Their neighbour would be a good angle to play, but he was worried about Kakashi's apparent interest in the younger agent. He, personally, held no judgement against any of his colleagues who worked a sexual angle in a case. Nine times out of ten it got them the answers they needed and the agents were experienced enough to pull away from the cases with no lingering effects. Naruto, on the other hand, was young and inexperienced. He was in a long term relationship and Iruka could already see the guilt eating away at him. He sighed loudly but the sound was drowned out by the door bell ringing loudly through the house. Neither agent moved.

"If he really does have a thing for you," Iruka began slowly, carefully forming the words in his mind before speaking them. He didn't want to upset the blond more than he already was. "Be careful what you say and do around him. And try not to lead him on if you're going to use him for information."

The door bell rang out again and this time Iruka pushed away from the table and got to his feet. He gave the blond a knowing look when Naruto looked up and caught his eye before heading out of the kitchen. Naruto sat in silence, watching the stupid characters in his game dance around his phone screen, waiting for him to make them do something. He sighed heavily, randomly moving the characters to a different town and starting up a new quest line, lost in his own thoughts and not really paying attention to anything when Iruka came back into the room.

Someone cleared their throat and the blond finally looked up.

To see Kakashi standing in their kitchen. Smirking at Naruto.

"Seems like I need to make surprise visits more often!" Kakashi joked, nodding in Naruto's direction. The blond could feel his cheeks burning even hotter and muttered something about grabbing some clothes before all but running from the kitchen. 

He slammed his bedroom door behind him, throwing himself against it and sliding to the floor. That man had piss-poor timing! _Fancy knocking on someone's door at - well, shit, it's almost two... But still!_

Naruto was still quietly fuming to himself when Iruka knocked on his door.

"Jamie," he called through the wood. "Get dressed, our new neighbour wants to take us out for a drink and welcome us to the town."

 _Shit._ "Do I have to?"

"Don't be rude. Get dressed."

"Fuck," he mumbled. Getting to his feet and pulling some jeans off the bed, he called back, "Fine, I'll be out in a minute."

He listened to Iruka's retreating footsteps as he pulled the jeans on, leaving them hanging open as he raided his wardrobe for a tee-shirt. He couldn't believe his luck! Not only did Iruka think he was gonna whore himself out to get somewhere with the case, but the man Iruka thought he would be doing those things with was now standing in his kitchen! AND! He had practically seen Naruto naked now! All because his stupid fake dad had let him into their stupid fake home.

Naruto was beginning to wish he'd turned the job down.

**\----X----**

Kakashi took them for a walk around the lake before stopping in at the 'The Lakeside' for a few drinks, which was a short, uphill walk to The Sunset Hotel - reputedly run by The Akatsuki. The silver haired man gave the two agents a brief history of the recently refurbished pub, which had stood abandoned for nearly twenty years before it was taken over by a friend of his, and also the surrounding lake which was man-made. Kakashi's great-great-great-great grandfather had been the mastermind behind the breathtaking lake and, despite plans a few years back to build a housing estate in place it, it was now part of local and personal history. The pub had been added a few years after the lakes completion, settled on a small island in the middle of the water. It was now one of the more popular pubs in the small town, and more often than not it was packed to capacity.

The three ordered their drinks and sat in a slightly quieter corner, chatting quite animatedly between themselves. When the conversation turned to their pasts, Iruka became noticeably guarded.

"So, what made you move here?" Kakashi asked, a calculating smile on his face. Naruto sipped on his drink and let Iruka lead the conversation for him, also not liking where it was going.

"Ahh my wife left me a few years ago," Iruka explained, shooting Naruto what seemed to be an apologetic look. The blond stared into his drink, coming off as bitter over this conversation turn. "I couldn't afford the flat we were in anymore, without her income, so we had to move. I got a good deal on our bungalow and we'll be doing better from now on."

"Ahh, I see. I'm sorry to hear that." He turned to the blond, quickly changing the subject. "Jamie, what do you do? Are you still studying or have you started working?"

"Still looking for work at the moment," Naruto muttered sourly. "No one wants a fresh-out-of-school kid."

Kakashi's eyes glinted with something unknown and he gave the blond a sad smile. "You'll find something, don't worry."

"What about you, Kakashi?" Iruka interjected. "D'you work?"

"Ah yes, I work in the bar at The Sunset." He said jovially, not noticing the two agents stiffening in their seats. He turned his full attention to Naruto. "I can ask if they have anything going, if you want?"

"That would be nice, thank you." Iruka replied with a polite smile. "But I don't know if that's something he would be interested in."

Naruto balked at the mans answer. Was he insane? If Kakashi was involved, then this was his ticket in!

"No, actually." He blurted, ignoring Iruka's astonished gaze. "Any experience would be great. I really appreciated it, thanks Kakashi."

"Anytime. I'll find out for you and pop over after my shift tomorrow." The silver haired man practically beamed at the blond and Naruto gave him a shy smile in return. Both of them ignored Iruka and his incredulous expression, Naruto quickly changing the subject.

Though their conversation quickly returned to the lighthearted banter from before, they left the cozy pub slightly more reserved than when they arrived. As they got to their feet and quickly finished the last dregs of their drinks, Kakashi spotted someone behind the bar and abruptly excused himself. Iruka visibly tensed at the interruption and Naruto didn't miss it. He watched Kakashi disappear behind the bar and caught a flash of messy, dark hair following along after their companion. He returned his gaze to his partner with a raised eyebrow, eyes asking the questions that couldn't spill from their lips. Iruka gave an almost unnoticeable shake of his head, his answer loud and clear for the blond; not now. Wait until we get home.

They left the pub not long after that, wondering back around the lake and towards their homes. Iruka had to force himself not to switch into his normal overprotective self and not put himself between the blond and their neighbour, despite every fibre of his being screaming at him to do so. Naruto was a grown man and could take care of himself, but there was something about Kakashi that he just didn't like and he just didn't want to see the blond get hurt.

They parted ways once they reached the agents bungalow and Kakashi bade them a hearty goodbye, his gaze lingering on Naruto longer than Iruka liked before he dashed across the road without looking. Naruto spun on his heel and unlocked the front door, quickly flopping onto one of the sofas as Iruka trailed slowly behind him. He was playing on his phone when the brunette caught up.

"Nice to know this place isn't a total hole in the ground." Naruto declared as Iruka took a seat opposite him. "I mean, that was a nice pub. And it's right next to the hotel. You know, I think it might even be tightly knit with the hotel, too. Like, didn't Kakashi say a friend of his owns it?"

"Naruto, please be careful." The scarred man said, interrupting the blonds wittering. "I know you're excited to have a potential lead, but don't jump straight in without looking."

"What are you talking about? This could be the way in. What else have we got?" Naruto snapped, quickly loosing his patience. "I've got fuck all else, that's what. Have _you_ found anything out? I don't even know what you've been _doing_ this last week!"

Iruka scoffed. "I've been doing my part."

"Yeah? And what's that?"

Iruka sighed loudly and angrily, throwing his hands up in defeat. "That pub? Owned by one of his friends? That friend is Madara Uchiha. In the sixties, he was a lowly drug peddler, handing out defective crack to stupid little rich boys who didn't know any better and wanted to piss daddy off. Then in the seventies, he stepped up his A game and became the personal hitman of the wealthiest woman in London. Apparently he was so good, even _she_ wanted him dead. He killed her first and they never found the body. The last anyone heard of him was in the early eighties, right after her death and then he just up and disappeared. The first time anyone in law enforcement had seen of him in thirty years was four days ago when I saw him handling a delivery from the hotel. Now. Care to tell me how I'm not doing my job?"

Naruto gaped at him like a fish out of water, unbelieving not only the volume of information he'd just been handed but also the extent that Iruka had gone to without his even noticing. The scarred man took Naruto's stunned silence as petulant denial and stormed angrily from the room, slamming his office door behind him. The blond stared after him, watching the dull wood long after it's loud closing, unsure what to say or do next.

He'd offended the man - his professional partner for the coming months - and not only did he not want a bad working relationship between them, a nagging guilt screamed at him from the pit of his stomach. After a moments hesitation, he got to his feet and padded silently to the office door, knocking just as lightly. Iruka didn't answer and Naruto sighed, resting his hand flat against the wood, gently knocking his forehead next to it. He'd give the older man time. Time, and space, to cool his temper before he'd approach once more.

After another moment, the blond left the bungalow and locking the door behind him (as per the agreement between the two agents when they moved in), wondering down the street with his head bowed and his hands buried in his pockets.

His wondering feet took him up to the shopping centre and he found himself back in the same cafe as before. With a sigh, he bought himself a coffee and settled himself for a long afternoon with questions already swarming fiercely around his head. It wasn't long before someone interrupted his turbulent thoughts.

"So, you're the new kid on the block, huh?" Came the unfamiliar voice from directly opposite him. Naruto looked up from his phone and was met with the animalistic grin of one of Kakashi's companions from the other day.

"Excuse me?" He grunted with s raised eyebrow.

The man grinned at him, bearing all his teeth as he turned around properly in his seat and joining Naruto as his small table. "You moved in opposite Kakashi the other day, right?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

The man scoffed. "No need to be so hostile. I'm just making friendly conversation."

Naruto eyed the man carefully as he pulled a hand-rolled cigarette from his pocket and lit it in the middle of the cafe. He raised his eyebrows at the mans audacity and looked around, waiting for the inevitable removal from the cafe. He stared at the staff in unbelieving and stunned silence as they made no attempts to kick the man out, nor ask him to put the cigarette out. Naruto wrinkled his nose, turning back to his strange new companion.

"D'you mind? That shits nasty man."

"Not really." He said, taking a long drag and blowing the smoke into the agents face. Naruto's nose wrinkled further at the smell as he realised it wasn't a normal cigarette.

"Is that a joint?" He almost snaps, leaning away from the man. The man grinned at him, all of his teeth on show once more.

"What of it?" He grunts, blowing another cloud of smoke into Naruto's face. Naruto coughs loudly and waves a hand in front of his face, dispersing the cloud. The man snorted.

"Man, you're a prude, aintcha?"

"Leave the kid alone, Kiba." Came another unfamiliar voice, directly behind the man. Naruto's eyes widened and he looked around Kiba to see the Itachi lookalike - Sasuke - taking a bite out of a sandwich.

"Jeez, neither of you are any fun." Kiba grunted, turning back in his seat. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I've got a fucking headache and all I can hear is you winding up some looser." Sasuke snapped, all but slamming his coffee down onto the table. "So shut the fuck up. And leave the kid alone."

Naruto visibly bristled at the looser comment, reigning his temper in. He didn't need a second argument today and he really didn't want to pick a fight with Itachi's younger brother - criminal or otherwise. He finished his own coffee and got to his feet with a huff. Deciding he'd rather deal with a moody thirty-something-year-old than a potentially violent man, Naruto took his leave, storming from the small cafe without another word to either Kiba or Sasuke.

He kept the pace as he stormed home, angrier now than he had been when he left, and made it back in half the time. Though he hadn't meant to, the front door slammed loudly behind him and he winced at the sound before making his way to the living room and throwing himself down on the sofa.

"Jamie?" Iruka called, emerging from his office. "What's wrong?"

Naruto sighed and ran a hand over his tires face. "I'm sorry for earlier." He muttered through his fingers. He cracked them open slightly and peered at the man through the opening they made. "I shouldn't have acted like you were doing fuck all when I've got nothing."

Iruka gave his blond partner a small, understanding smile, knowing what the younger Agent was going through. He remembered his first mission and the feeling of utter helplessness before finally getting that one break through he needed. He didn't approve of the methods Naruto may be forced to employ - and despite his earlier comments, he didn't think the blond would willingly encourage such actions - but he would be there for the young man as needed. Be it as a shoulder to cry on when things got too tough or the overprotective father figure he was being paid to play, with a lecture ready on his tongue, he would be there. 

"Don't worry about it." He muttered softly, his gaze wondering as his mind raced. The blond gave him a small smile as he left, once again venturing out into their new surroundings. Iruka took up residence in Naruto's now vacated seat and leant back, arms folded across his chest. His thoughts wondered for several long moments, finally careening to a screeching halt on the new information he'd received today. Kakashi had something to do with Akatsuki, of that he was now certain. And things may have just gotten a whole lot more complicated. Madara was a dangerous man, not one to get on the wrong side of. They would have to tread very carefully from here on out, less they wished to end up like Neji.


	5. Chapter Four

So....... Here we are again. Sorry it's been so long and all but I've been sick and then backed up with work and then sick again >_<

It's been an interesting few months -.-'

Anyways, I'll try to get back to updating regularly, but I've not got any more than what I present today. So who knows what'll happen. Just bare with me o/

 

Anywhoozer. 

 

Chapter Four.

 

Enjoy ;3

* * *

 

A man with an orange, swirled mask covering his face shifted silently through the papers adorning his desk. Most of them were invoices for the hotel in which his office was situated, though a small handful detailed his staff's comings and goings between the hotel and the large gaming store his owned in the middle of town. His eyes skimmed across one such page and eyebrows knitted together beneath his mask.

Sasuke had been moving more freely than he would have liked.

A soft knock at the door pulled him from his thoughts and he pressed the button under the flat of his desk, unlocking the door. As if summoned by a mere thought, Sasuke strolled in with more confidence than the masked man appreciated.

"I've just received the personnel file you were asking for, Seven." The dark haired man said, placing a file on a pile of paperwork and stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Just so you know, I met the kid yesterday. He seems like a loser. I doubt he's any real threat or asset for that matter. But Kiba thinks there's something off about him, says he was too nervous around us for his liking."

The masked man, Seven, nodded his acknowledgment but otherwise gave the dark haired man no other sign that he'd heard. Sasuke bristled, trying not to glare at Seven.

"Is there anything else you need, sir?" He asked, folding his arms in front of him and trying to appear unamused.

Seven reached silently to his left and picked up a folder, similar to the one Sasuke had just delivered. He held it out, just as silently, for Sasuke to take and the younger man frowned. Taking the file, he eyed his boss nodding, wordlessly being told he was allowed to look at it.

Frowning a little more, Sasuke flipped open the folder as his masked boss watched quietly through only one eye-hole. Sasuke's own eyes landed instantly on the photo on the first page. It was a man - maybe his own age - was laying on the ground, eyes closed, lips parted slightly and long black hair spread out behind his head. At first glance, one could easily say the man was sleeping. Until your eyes took in the rest of the photo; the deep gash in his head above his left eyebrow, jaw beaten so bad the skin was missing and teeth were bloody and on show, the pool of the mans own breath creating a halo around him as it dribbled from his throat.

Sasuke swallowed audibly and looked away from the photo.

"This... this wasn't my idea." He said slowly, glancing up through his eyelashes to gauge his bosses reaction. "I didn't have anything to do with it, apart from telling Kiba it was a dumb fuck idea. Apparently, he flubbed, said something about his home life in front of Kiba. I don't know what exactly, but Kiba called his girl when he was off taking a shit or something, I forget. Anyways, he asked her to listen in to their conversation for a little while and when he saw her next, she flipped her shit. Went fucking mental. Kept saying over and over that she was gonna kill him for -."

Seven raised a hand in the air, cutting off whatever Sasuke was about to say. The hand twirled gracefully in the air and the dark haired man scowled, flipping the page over and dropping his frown to the new picture. He sighed loudly, closing his eyes in a vain attempt to calm himself before speaking again.

"I told them not to do this," He said, at last, opening his eyes and bringing his gaze confidently up to meet that of his bosses. "Jugo thought it would be a good idea to teach the pigs a lesson. Said something about them needing to know their place in this world. Even Kiba thought it was a good idea. Seriously, though? Sending his hand to the fucking cops? Fucking mental if you ask -."

The hand twirled again and he flipped to the next page, forcing back an exasperated sigh. A picture of two men and a woman filled the third and final page in the folder. Kiba was one of the two men. Sasuke's friend, Suigetsu, was the other man and the one he knew was tasked with delivering the hand. In his defense, he hadn't known what was inside. The woman in the photo - Kiba's girlfriend - had paid him handsomely to disguise himself and hand deliver the parcel - no pun intended.

"Yes." He said, swallowing his fear and looking his boss square in the visible eye. "Hinata gave Suigetsu a shit load of money just to do it, even though I told them -."

"So what you're saying," came a voice from behind him and Sasuke jumped, spinning on the spot to face his cousin. He hadn't even realized the man was there. "What you're saying, is you had nothing to do with it and didn't think speaking up against your friends was a good idea?"

Sasuke glared at his cousin.

"Shifting the blame from yourself, once again." Obito continued. "Little Sasuke could never do anything wrong."

"Fuck you, Obito. Keep out of this and go back to fucking Kakashi or -."

Behind him, the chair scraped across the floor as Seven rose to his feet and Sasuke whirled around to face him again. The masked man strode calmly over to his subordinate, stopping a step or two away from him. Sasuke braced himself for, well, anything and his eyes slammed shut seconds before Seven's hand streaked across his cheek.

"One more chance, cousin," Obito muttered into his ear, wrapping an arm around the younger mans shoulders. "Fuck up one more time and you'll wish you'd left with that shit bag of a brother you have."

Eyes still closed, the younger Uchiha nodded and bolted out of the room, not waiting to be dismissed. Seven watched after him for a moment, even after the door had clicked softly closed, his thoughts somewhere else. Obito huffed a small laugh and their eyes met in the dimly lit office.

"He's getting on my last nerve." Seven muttered, looking away from his right-hand man and returning to his seat. Once comfortable again, he reached up and pulled the mask from his face and placed it beside his untouched coffee. "You know, if he wasn't your cousin, he'd be dead already."

Obito nodded. "I know. And I appreciate that. I just don't know where this arrogance of his has come from."

Seven shot him a knowing look. "Maybe you and Kakashi should train him up a little. Keep him busy so he stays out of trouble."

"Not a bad idea." The other man grunted.

Seven picked up the fold that Sasuke had originally handed him as Obito quietly slipped out the door, locking the door behind him. Flicking the folder open to the first page, his eye slid down the photo, taking in the blond hair and blue eyes. He reverted quickly to reading the text scrawled across the page, his eyes occasionally slipping back to the picture.

 _Kakashi had been right_. He decided. _Jamie Dawson will be an interesting addition_.

**\----X----**

Naruto's feet had taken him on the long walk from his temporary home with Iruka, all the way into town, just over a mile away. He was tired. He was thirsty. And, above all else, he was lost. His earlier anger at Iruka had flipped onto himself for being so ignorant of the older man that he'd gotten so turned around. He didn't know which way was home, nor did he know which bus to take him there.

With a sigh, he dug into his pockets, thankful that the hadn't completely fogged up his mind. He had at least picked up his wallet and his phone, if not his keys, so he had a choice of a cab or calling Iruka. He cringed at the thought of having to be picked up like a petulant child, but he hadn't yet committed the street name that he lived on to memory. He'd have to call Iruka.

But that could come later. 

Sudden realisation hit him as to just where he was.

Behind him stood a wonderfully large bookstore with the latest realises of his favourite books and mangas displayed on beautifully arched windows. Either side of that stood two large clothing stores, both much larger than the bookshop the blond was disappointed to note. In front of him and to the left was a small coffee shop, it's tables and customers spilling out on the streets to enjoying the late afternoon sun. To the right was a music store with loud, obnoxious music screaming through the open doors and clashing terribly with the sounds coming from the shop directly in front of him.

Bright, red lights blazed the shop's name into the crowded street and Naruto swallowed thickly as hordes of teenagers and young adults piled into the store. A few of the younger customers squealed with delight, watching the game previews on one of the many screens littering the front window and Naruto decided it was now or never. He had come this far after all; time to see if the rumors were true. 

He made his way through the gawking and squealing crowds and pushed through the open doors, his senses quickly being assaulted by more bright lights and louder music, the chatter of the customers only just audible. He refrained himself from his own squeal of delight as he saw that his favourite game had finally been released on the X4 and instead made his way to the hand-held games in front of the counter. He'd spied two employees in deep conversation and, while pretending to be interested in a game boasting a fluffy pink cloud as the hero, he tried to listen in to their conversation. 

"The shipment will be here tonight." The red-headed woman told her colleague, pushing her glasses up her nose. "VIP only, today, so don't screw it up."

Her colleague scoffed, folding his arms gruffly over his chest. "I'm not an idiot," he growled. "I know how to take in an order."

"Yes, well. Seven is rather skeptical after that little stunt you and your girlfriend pulled last month."  
The man looked away from her, scowling at nothing in particular when his gaze landed on Naruto browsing the games. "Whatever. He had it coming." He grunted, eyes never leaving Naruto's wandering form.

"Don't let Seven hear you say that. I heard Sasuke's been put on a short leash because of it. Same might happen to you if you don't keep your head screwed on."

The man scoffed again, waving her comments off with a flippant air.

"Yeah, yeah. I got it. I'm getting back to work now. Piss off."

The woman snarled, grabbing his collar and pulling him into the back room, away from the blond. Naruto frowned, refraining the temptation to look up and see exactly where they had gone as he put a game back down on the shelf. He was interested in what the VIP shipment could possibly include as another employee sauntered up to him and plucked the cloud game from the shelf. She waved it tauntingly at him with a grin.

"Hey there, handsome. You don't look like the type to enjoy these games." She crooned, her grin widening as he looked up and his eyes flashed with recognition. He smirked at her and leant against the counter playfully.

"I'm not. My cousin might be interested though, he's only six." She grinned again, baring perfectly straight, white teeth, and copied his stance, leaning down opposite him. "Jamie Dawson."

"Sakura. So what brings you here?"

"Beautiful women and games."

She scoffed, flipping her short pink hair over her shoulder as she leaned away, knowing full well 'beautiful women' didn't interest him in the slightest. Naruto's eyes followed the movement of her hair and caught an interesting sight behind her. A door leading further into the store, a man with pale skin and long black hair guarding it, and two skittish looking teenage boys wandering over and showing the guard a card. VIP ONLY flashed above the door in neon green letters and the blond knew instantly that was where he needed to go.

"I've been told you have a VIP service." He said, returning his gaze to his old friend. Sakura's smirk dropped a fraction, but she otherwise kept the act up perfectly. "How does one become a member?"

Sakura leant away from him completely, folding her arms daintily over her small chest and smirking at him.

"Jumping in with both feet, huh?" She muttered just loud enough for the blond to hear. Naruto grinned. 

"You know me, I don't do anything by halves."

Sakura laughed loudly at that and, shaking her head and still grinning, disappeared into the same room her colleagues had gone earlier. Naruto waited patiently, still eying up his favourite game lining the other wall when the man from before came out.

Without even looking at the blond, he punched his login details into the till. "What can I get ya, mate?"

Naruto startled. "I'm being served, thanks."

"Oh, it's you. What are you doing here, loser?"

Naruto scoffed. "I'm in a games shop. What do you think, genius?" The two watched each other carefully.

"Kiba, wasn't it?"

The other man grunted his affirmation.

"That Sakura girl. She got a boyfriend?"

Kiba laughed loudly, pulling a stack of games from under the counter and began pricing them. "She does. And ya don't wanna go there. Sasuke would kick the shit outta ya for even thinking about it. Thought ya was queer though?"

Naruto blanched. "What gave you that idea?"

"Just the way ya was checking out my man, Kakashi."

The blond blushed and looked away as his pink haired friend returned. Kiba scoffed, getting on with his task as the pinkette handed Naruto a form.

"There you go." She said, either not noticing or pretending not to care about the blonds change of demeanor. "You'll have to go through a credit check, but I've put myself down for your recommendation. Bring it back to the shop when you're done."

"Thanks," the blond muttered and he placed £20 on the counter, holding the cloud game between two fingers as he turned to leave. "For my cousin. Keep the change."

"Did ya give him what I think ya did?" Kiba asked as the blond left the store.

"So what if I did?"

"Think that's a good idea? There's something off about that kid."

Sakura scoffed. "Didn't you say that about me when we first met? You're reading too much into things again Kiba, you should be careful. If you work that little brain of yours any harder, it's likely to melt and dribble out of your ears."

"Oh, haha, very funny. Just be careful around him, all I'm saying."

**\----X----**

After twenty minutes trying to figure out which bus he wanted and a further forty-five minutes on said bus, Naruto finally made it back to the bungalow he shared with Iruka. He tumbled through the stiff front door, slamming it shut behind him, and strutted through the hall almost giddily. He'd not only managed to finally get in touch with the third agent in the area, he'd gotten her mobile number and a decent scope of the games shop. There was definitely something dodgy going on in there and he was almost convinced the Akatsuki was involved if Kiba and Sakura's presence was anything to go by. Now all he needed was to pass this damned credit check and hope he was accepted into the VIP membership. Maybe then, things would start moving forward.

He could hear Iruka talking in the kitchen and followed the sound of his pretend fathers voice. 

Iruka's back was to him when he opened the kitchen door and the older agent was dutifully cooking away, nattering non consequently to Kakashi sat at the table. The silver-haired man smiled warmly as the blond as he entered and Naruto returned it with a stiff nod, Kiba's earlier words resonating loudly in his mind.

"I've got good news," Kakashi said, interrupting Iruka's ramblings as the blond took a seat opposite him. "We've got an opening in the bar. If you're still interested in a job, that is."

While Iruka visibly stiffened, Naruto couldn't be happier with _this_ particular development. He quickly agreed and began hashing out the details with Kakashi. Iruka brought the meal over, eating quietly as the silver-haired man explained the bar training Naruto would receive. Iruka's eyes landed on the cloud game and the application and he frowned, scooping up the form.

"What's this Jamie?"

"Hmm?"

Iruka's frown deepened as he read through some of the form and he held it up for his partner to see. The blond bobbed his head and swallowed his mouthful of food.

"I got lost and somehow ended up in town." He muttered sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. "I found a great games shop and they have a VIP membership." Naruto's eyes lit up with somewhat feigned delight. "Free games. I can't wait. Gotta apply though."

Iruka frowned again, returning his gaze to the form in his hand.

"Bit personal for a games shop, isn't it?"

Naruto shrugged, shoveling another mouthful of mashed potatoes into his mouth, continuing the conversation without caring. "Free games." Was the muffled response.

Kakashi watched the exchange with silent interest. Father and son seemed to have forgotten about him as they discussed the form. That Jamie had just happened across the games shop was strange to his mind. Stranger still, he was applying to become a VIP member. Sure, the allure of free games every week would entice any young and serious gamer, but did Jamie know about the other extras one received?

Kakashi sighed to himself as father and son poured over Jamie's application together.

 _Jamie Dawson,_ he thought as he excused himself from the meal and headed outside for a cigarette. _A very interesting man, indeed._


	6. Chapter Five

New chapter day is two days later than I wanted it to be, but that's better than like, 10 months, right?  _Right?_

 

* * *

 

"And this is Obito. He'll be giving you your bar training." The silver-haired man said with a final flourish as the two entered the bar. A man - Obito, Naruto presumed - reminded the blond of a cliche, stood behind the bar, cleaning a whisky tumbler with a damp cloth.

"I thought you were gonna train me?" Naruto asked, glancing back at his neighbour with a frown and trying not to appear too disappointed. In reality, he wanted to get to know the silver-haired man a little better, completely convinced now that he had some involvement with the reputed group.

Kakashi gave him a devilish grin and the blond fought back a blush.

"Maaah, I'm sorry. I've been called to the top floor for a meeting with the boss."

"The boss?" Naruto repeated, wondering if he could maybe squeeze a little information from his neighbour before he disappeared. 

"The man that runs this joint." Came a new voice and blue eyes swivelled to the man behind the bar. "Pretty intimidating guy when he wants to be." He scoffed, shooting a knowing look over the blond's shoulder. "Obito Uchiha." He introduced himself.

Naruto approached the bar and shook the offered hand with a small frown.

 _This must be Itachi's cousin._ He thought, turning his attention back to Kakashi. The older man gave him a small smile. 

"Don't worry," he said, patting the blond's shoulder perhaps a little harder than he meant to. "You're in good hands with Obito. But I'd better get going. I'll take over in about an hour or so." He added, the comment directed at the Uchiha.

Naruto watched him leave, turning to his new mentor as the door closed with a soft click. He'd already done a head count of all the patrons currently occupying the bar, some enjoying a business lunch in suits and ties while others simply indulged in a midday drink. Two groups of three in suits, one group of seven in suits, two old men sat at either end of the bar looking worse for wares, three women sipping cocktails and squealing over each other's dresses and a group of four in the corner (one of which was his old friend, Sakura).

Naruto knew, no matter how far away these people were, he couldn't risk grilling Obito about his employer. He wouldn't risk being found out on his first day. Regardless of how tempting the chance may be.

"So where do I start?"

Obito smirked at him and jerked his head backwards, letting the blond know he could come behind the bar.

**\----X----**

The meeting with the boss was actually just a meeting between two friends, a glass bottle of whisky on the table between them. Though Kakashi had opted for a beer, leaving the whisky for his drinking partner.

"Kiba was surprisingly proficient handling the delivery last week," Madara informed him, taking a small sip of his drink. "I was suitably impressed, you did a good job putting the fear of God into him."

Kakashi shrugged. "Seven did all the work there, not me."

"I hear you also have a new barman, how's he shaping up?"

"Obito's training him right now, actually. We'll see how fast he learns in a bit."

"Is he cute?"

" _Gorgeous._ "

Madara grinned around the rim of his glass. "Can I steal him? Or have you already staked your claim?"

Kakashi eyed his friend wearily. "Not yet. He supposedly has a boyfriend. Don't know how much I believe that but I think I have a fair chance to change that."

"Is this unofficial stake claiming, Kakashi?" The dark-haired man asked with a grin and a fake gasp. "Simply unheard of."

Kakashi scoffed. "Blond and blue eyes are more my type than yours." He pointed out, dropping his empty beer bottle on the table between them.

"Oh yes, don't worry. I haven't forgotten your little crush back in the day. What was his name? Mina-something?"

"Minato." The silver-haired man agreed with a thoughtful nod. "If I'm completely honest..." Kakashi lost himself in thought, mind dredging up memories of stunning blue eyes and flawless blond hair. He gave a small cough, returning to the present and flicking his gaze back to his friend. "If I'm completely honest, I see so much of Minato in Jamie... It's unreal."

Madara gave him a levelled look and Kakashi could see the cogs working in overdrive in the other man's mind.

"Have you thought, maybe Jamie is somehow connected to Minato?" He asked, placing his almost finished drink down on the table and crossing his leg over his knee. "I mean, that man was in the police force, was he not?"

Kakashi nodded, gaze wondering and he stared at nothing in particular. "Yeah, I thought about it. I mentioned it to Seven when I first enquired about getting Jamie a job here. We looked into both of them, but..."

He stood up and crossed to the desk on the other side of the room, grabbing a folder from its top and flicking it open. "Seven send this across to me." He explained, showing his longtime friend the two photos on the page. "The similarities... Are outstanding."

The dark-haired man stared wide-eyed at the two beaming faces staring up at him. "No shit." He muttered.

"Minato... I knew I'd never have a chance with him. He married a woman called Kushina, not long after my father died. However, I hear she passed away in a car accident several years after they wed, along with their five-year-old son."

The dark-haired man glanced up at his friend. "Information can be falsified. You know this better than anyone. How many times have you tampered with confidential police information, under Seven's orders?"

"I know that." Kakashi all but hissed. "Don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to risk everything Seven has worked so hard for. Not for this."

Madara eyed his friend for a little longer before sighing and closing his eyes. He reached out and reclaimed his abandoned drink, taking a long gulp of the amber liquid. "I'm glad." He muttered eventually. "I'm glad this won't all be lost on a mere whim."

**\----X----**

"You're late!" Naruto gasped out as Kakashi finally returned to the bar some several hours later. The silver-haired man gave him a sheepish grin.

"Sorry, I got lost on the road to life."

Behind him, someone scoffed.

"You're drunk again. Were you drinking with uncle?" Sasuke asked, handing his new colleague the crate of drinks he had been carrying.

"Your uncle is a very enlightening man and you should treat him with a little more respect." The silver-haired man chided gently. "Anyway, he's interested in you." He added as if suddenly remembering. Naruto blanched.

" _Me_? Why's he interested in me?" The blond cried, gaining the attention of some of their patrons. He blushed and swivelled back to Kakashi, lowering his voice considerably as he hissed, " _I'm nothing special!_ "

Kakashi leered at him and wrapped an arm around the blond's waist, pulling him close. He nuzzled into Naruto's cheek and pressed a soft kiss there. "He's my oldest friend. Just looking out for me." He drawled as if that would explain everything. "He just wants to make sure my new boy toy is good enough for me."

Sasuke bit back a laugh at Naruto's terrified expression and the blond tried to push the older man away.

"I told you I'm seeing someone. I'm not your boy toy."

"Just humour him, Jamie. And make sure you film it on your phone. This is years worth of blackmail at my fingertips."

Naruto glared at the raven. "Fuck you."

"No thanks." Sasuke scoffed, folding his arms over his chest and turning away. "I don't swing that way. Besides, he's right. Whether or not you're in a relationship with this oaf or your mystery man, uncle is only looking out for Kakashi. He doesn't bite. Not even if you ask him nicely."

Kakashi grabbed the blond's hand and tried to pull him away from the bar. "C'mon, it won't take long. Then I'll take you home and you can tell your dear daddy how mean and scary we all are."

Naruto blinked at the silver-haired man. "What?"

Kakashi laughed. "You're dad's had it in for me since the moment I offered you this job, don't deny it."

"Fine." The blond groused, if only because Madara Uchiha intrigued him a little. That the man had managed to hide himself from all manner of law enforcement for thirty years was an impressive feat, one Naruto wanted to know a little more about. He could throw Iruka a bone this time, get him a good arrest for his record, when he was only a side agent on this Akatsuki case. And any new information he could glean from the man could help him along the way.

 _Two birds, one stone_. He thought as he allowed Kakashi to lead him from the bar, missing the knowing looks passing between the Uchiha cousins as they watched the two leave.

Madara Uchiha, it turned out, was a man with long dark hair who loomed over Naruto. The blond swallowed thickly and gave the older man a weak, shaky smile which was returned as he was ushered into the room.

"Jamie Dawson." The man's voice was deep, tone sounding soothing but doing the exact opposite to Naruto who shivered involuntarily. "I've heard a lot about you."  
The blond stared, wide-eyed. "From who?"

Kakashi, sat close next to the blond, snorted in the back of his throat, grinning wildly at the glare shot in his direction. Madara ignored the silver-haired man and retrieved the whisky from the table.

"Drink?" Naruto shook his head and the raven poured himself a hearty glassful. "I hear you're new in town. How are you liking it here?"

Naruto swallowed again. "It's okay. There's not a lot to do unless you go into the town centre, but it's nice. Pretty even. I like the lake."

Madara nodded, approving his answer and Naruto suddenly wished he hadn't turned down the offer of something to wet his dry throat. He didn't even notice Kakashi was no longer next to him until he heard the door click softly behind his neighbour's departure and he stared, wide-eyed, at the empty space. He instantly missed the familiarity by his side, left alone with a man who had terrorised the city in the seventies. He glanced back at the dark-haired man.

 _Seventies? Jesus, he doesn't look any older than my dad, real or otherwise._ He found himself thinking as he studied the man now sat opposite him. Madara was an attractive, intimidating man. _How can he be in his fifties?_

"I have a couple of questions for you, Jamie." The raven stated suddenly, snapping Naruto out of his thoughts like a slap to the face.

"O-oh?" He hated that he'd stuttered but he couldn't take it back now. Madara noticed his hesitation and dark eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Watching the boy, he plucked a piece of paper from the table and twirled it around his fingers.

After a few more moments silence, he stopped twirling the page and reached over, offering it to the blond. Naruto took it with shaking fingers and flipped it over in his hand. It wasn't a piece of paper. It was a photo.

A photo of his real father. Minato Namikaze.

He stared at the picture for a moment, trying not to let his expression give anything away.

"Do you know that man, Jamie?" The raven asked after a moment. Naruto shook his head, gathering himself before he looked back at the man. He held the photo out for Madara to take back.

"I've never seen him before in my life." He was almost disgusted how easily the lie came to his lips and how easily he disregarded his own father, even if it were for his protection. "Who is he?"

Madara gazed at him with a calculating look. "He's an investigator from the Konoha Military Police. He's been looking into The Akatsuki for some time now but hasn't made any headway."

Naruto decided to play dumb. "Excuse me, who?"

"It doesn't matter who they are, only that the man in that photo is looking into them." The raven took a long drink from his glass, eying Naruto over the rim. "What concerns me at the moment is his appearance." He held the photo up for Naruto to see once more, two fingers gently clutching it at the bottom. "He looks an awful lot like you, don't you think?"

Slowly, the blond nodded. "Yeah. I... I guess he really does."

"Almost like looking in the mirror, no?"

"I guess."

"And you're sure you don't know this man?"

"Positive." He said it with more confidence than he felt, but Madara eyed him carefully for a few more moments before putting the photo down on the table, picture side up.

"Tell me about your family, Jamie."

"Well... as far as I know, my biological parents couldn't afford to raise a child when I was born so I was left the waiting room at a hospital. I was put in an orphanage where mum and dad found and adopted me."

"Have you ever looked for your biological parents?"

Naruto nodded. "Once or twice, yeah. I never found anything though."

"And are you tempted now? Seeing this man that looks so much like you?"

Naruto hesitated before nodding slowly once more, knowing he had to tread carefully here. His eyes flickered to the picture on the table between them, pretending to study the features of the father he knew so well. "A little, yeah. But... dad needs me right now. As much as he won't admit it, I know he's still hurting over mum leaving. I can't just go gallivanting off on the chance that this might be my real father."

The dark haired man hummed quietly, watching Naruto over the rim of his glass once more, eyes calculating. The blond fought not to squirm in his seat under that gaze. He knew his performance there was flawless; most of it rehearsed, some of it from experience. Minato Namikaze was still hurting, even though his wife had passed away almost eighteen years ago.

But this man... Madara Uchiha. He had been around for a long time. Spent most of his young adulthood working diligently under a woman that wanted to have him killed. He had noticed this, saw through it, seen the change in the way she treated him and worked alongside him. He knew. And he did something about that.

The blond could only hope he didn't see through this.

After what seemed like an eternity, Madara got to his feet and strode purposefully over to the desk where the bottle sat waiting for him. He poured himself another drink and, this time, Naruto didn't refuse when he was offered one as well. He forced his fingers not to shake as he took the offered glass with a nod of thanks, taking a big gulp and letting the amber liquid burn his throat on the way down.

Madara resumed his position opposite him.

"Tell me," he began, swirling the drink around in the glass. "Would you like to know a little more of The Akatsuki?"

**\----X----**

Several hours had passed when the blond finally emerged from Madara's office with a small, silly grin on his face. Kakashi was waiting for him outside, having apparently sobered up some, and he gave the blond a beaming smile. Naruto didn't have time to work out what was happening as he was swept into a bone-crushing hug by the older man.

"Wha-" he gasped out. Kakashi pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"You passed." The silver-haired man beamed, taking Naruto's chin gently between finger and thumb and turning his head so their lips could meet.

Naruto pushed him away, quicker than he had the first time.

"You've gotta stop doing that." He grumbled, freeing himself from Kakashi's arms. "I told you I'm-"

"Yeah, I know." The silver haired man said with a playful growl, leaning closer. Naruto backed up until his back hit the wall behind him and Kakashi grinned. "And I don't particularly care. Tell him where to stick it and we can have some fun."

Naruto frowned, not used to such forcefulness. Both he and Itachi had been shy, more reserved, when perusing one another and it took several years before they finally got together. This forwardness was different, exciting almost. Almost.

"Not gonna happen." He bit out, frown deepening as Kakashi grinned again. The older man dove in, pressing a searing kiss to the blond's lips that left them both breathless. A kiss that Naruto found himself unable to pull away from. Then the silver-haired man turned away and waved absently for Naruto to follow him.

"We'll see. C'mon, I'll take you home."


	7. Chapter Six

This... happened sooner than I wanted it to...

But, what I actually wanted to happen didn't work and annoyed me too much, sooooooooo....

 

I'm just gonna leave this here....

* * *

 

While Naruto hadn't screamed ' _I'm in! Sign me up! Give me all the gory details!_ ' at the top of his lungs after his meeting with Madara, he was genuinely surprised at how little information had been offered. Most mornings, when he arrived at the hotel with Kakashi at his side (because Kakashi had insisted he drive Naruto there and back every day) already hushed conversations were ceased immediately and he was left alone to get the bar ready for their morning patrons. Kakashi would simply drop a kiss on his cheek or slap his bottom before reeling out a list of jobs to do and leaving with the rest of the bar team. Sometimes that included Sakura, but apparently Sasuke still didn't trust him and she was sent to work at the games shop more often than not, leaving Naruto almost no chance to talk business with her.

He sometimes had to take a shift on at the games shop, as well, taking over for his brutish colleague Kiba when he had to 'deal with a delivery'. His VIP membership was automatically rejected once he joined the team, though Kakashi explained he was entitled to more free games as an employee along with more... _special perks_ should he ask for them. He didn't go into more detail.

Naruto had been tempted to ask what those special perks were, but didn't want to come off as too eager.

With his time split between working the two jobs and only having one day off a week, the blond was short of opportunities to talk to Iruka about the case. And on his days off, Kakashi was always there, diminishing his already lacking chances further.

Today, however, was Saturday; a rare day that both he and Iruka would share off and his pretend father insisted they spend the day shopping in the city together. With Christmas fast approaching, even Kakashi relented and left the two to their devices for the day - though he was adamant about stealing the blond for a meal when they returned.

"So, have you found anything interesting out?" The brunette muttered. The two were in a cafe in the heart of the city, as far away from prying eyes as they could be, though close enough to their headquarters that Naruto had been tempted to flee into Itachi's arms.

"No." He replied, just as quietly. "Sasuke doesn't trust me fully and he's been insisting that I stay clear for a while. Though I did overhear Kakashi on the phone the other day. Apparently, there's a shipment coming in three weeks."

Iruka did the maths in his head. "Christmas Day?" The blond nodded. "And he said shipment, not delivery?"

"Definitely. I know what you're thinking. This isn't an average shop delivery."

"You need to get in on that shipment somehow. Have you figured out who's in charge?"

Naruto swallowed thickly. No. He hadn't. The days following after his initial meeting with Madara, he had replayed the events in his mind over and over. Kakashi had said he was meeting with the boss and later admitted to drinking with the oldest Uchiha. Of course, he could have been lying about his whereabouts in the first place and he just wanted a couple hours to himself.

Or, Madara was in charge.

Naruto hadn't seen the man since their impromptu meeting several weeks ago and at first, he had simply assumed that one who ran an organisation such as the Akatsuki wouldn't work in close quarters with his minions.

However, he considered that even Sakura hadn't figured out who the leader was. Maybe she was trusted as little as he was, but she and Sasuke seemed close. In the rare moments the blond had been alone with and able to speak to his old friend, she had mentioned having met the leader once. She spoke only of an orange, swirled mask. Nothing more.

He sighed and shook his head. "No. I have a few ideas but nothing to prove or disprove any of them."

"Who are you looking at?"

"Madara, for one." The blond said, lowering his voice more. "He's the oldest person I've met there, his acts and talks with so much knowledge and authority. He's intimidating. Cunning. Clever. Always thinking ten steps ahead. Honestly? He kinda scares me.

"Then there's Kakashi. Everyone listens to him. They're careful with how they act and speak to him. He carries himself like a leader. According to the profile I managed to get from headquarters, he joined not long after his father's death. Which makes me think maybe his dad was in charge and he took over. But the information on his father is as scattered as Kakashi himself."

"How did you run Kakashi's name? I thought he hadn't told you his last name?" Iruka was surprised, but very impressed. After their initial disagreement when they'd arrived in their new home, he hadn't realised how much work the blond had put into his investigation.

"He didn't. Madara called him a few weeks ago and I overheard their conversation in the kitchen. I think he was making a cup of tea or something, so he had the call on speaker. I was supposed to be in the shower so I guess he felt safe doing that and I'm pretty sure he doesn't know I overheard. His full name is Kakashi Hatake, according to what Madara was barking at him between orders."

Iruka tried to ignore that Kakashi was in the house while Naruto was having a shower and nodded. "And your third?"

"Obito Uchiha. Mostly for the same reasons as Kakashi. He's listened to, people are careful around him, intelligent, vigilant. He's not as scary as Madara is, but he has a walk and a talk about him. Like he's seen some shit and he's not afraid to get his hands dirty."

Iruka nodded again, deep in thought as he processed this new information. "Going on your gut instinct." He muttered at last. "Who would you put your money on?"

Naruto stared off at nothing in particular as he thought about his answer. He was tempted to say Madara, based purely on how the older man had made him feel during that meeting several weeks ago. But when he closed his eyes and tried to picture the head of the Akatsuki, all that came to mind was silver hair and grey eyes.

"Kakashi." He said at last, not looking the least bit confident with his answer. "I don't know why... just... there's something about him."

"Ok. You concentrate on Kakashi and I'll keep looking into the other two."

**\----X----**

Kakashi kept his promise of a meal, appearing at their garden gate almost as soon as they pulled up in their drive. The two agents allowed him to help carry their bags and he followed them into the house. Naruto shoo'd him into the kitchen as he took his bags from their pile and stumbled into his room. He could hear his work partner strike up a conversation with Kakashi as he dropped his bags onto his bed.

He didn't have much shopping; they supposedly didn't know many people around here yet so too much was suspicious. But he had managed to sneak a couple of presents for his colleagues back home, including Jiraiya, his real father and Itachi. He would post them off the next time he had a day off and managed to shake Kakashi off long enough to slip into the town centre.

Much to his own surprise, he had found himself staring at a necklace whilst in the city. It was simple, silver and red swirled together, and reminded him of an eye. He'd bought it without thinking but already knew who would be receiving it. It practically screamed Kakashi at him and he blushed as he stowed it away.

When he was ready to leave, he was surprised to find he wasn't going far. Kakashi laces their fingers together - much to Naruto's chagrin - and pulled him across the road to his own bungalow. Eight dogs immediately swamped them as they entered the home and Naruto found himself in the middle of a party that was already in full swing.

He was impressed that so many people could fit into the tiny building.

Naruto grimaced and leant into the arm around his waist. "I thought you said we were going out for dinner?"

"There's food over there." The hand on the blond's waist tightened slightly and Naruto felt his cheeks heat up. "If I'd known you wanted time alone with me, I would have cancelled the party. Though I think Ino and Hinata would have killed me if I did."

"I-I never said I wanted to be alone with you!" Naruto spluttered, ignoring the older man pointing out the two girls he mentioned. The blond swallowed almost nervously as he looked around the full living room. "I'm just... not very good with this many people..."

Kakashi gave the blond an encouraging smile, oblivious to Naruto's internal strife. The young agent was trying to commit all of these new faces to memory, wondering which of them were involved.

"You'll be fine," Kakashi promised, taking advantage of the blonds temporary distraction. "I'll be here, and there's Sasuke and Kiba."

Naruto resisted the urge to groan as Kakashi pulled him further into the house and the group of people he didn't know cheered loudly at their entrance. Several people he didn't know came straight over to him and introduced themselves to him, pulling him away from Kakashi. Despite his earlier grumblings, Naruto suddenly desperately didn't want to be separated from the silver-haired man.

Though he was annoyed that almost everyone was convinced he and Naruto were already a couple.

In the moment of being dragged into a sea of unknown people, Naruto lost sight of Kakashi and he felt a frown slip onto his face as he looked around. As two girls pulled him onto a soft, comfortable sofa, he spotted the silver-haired man disappearing into a separate room with Madara Uchiha. Before the door closed behind them, the Uchiha's eyes met his across the room and Naruto suppressed a shudder.

He didn't like that look.

The girls nattered away either side of him, rambling about something inane that Naruto really wasn't interested in. Instead, he took his time memorising the faces around him.

The dark-haired girl on his right he - thankfully - knew. Her name was Hinata and she was normally quite quiet and reserved, only really speaking up if something - or someone - truly irritated her. She worked on the reception at the hotel and there was always something about her that reminded him of someone, but he hadn't yet managed to put his finger on what that was.

The other girl, blond, pretty and curved in all the right places, pressed herself into Naruto's side, flirting shamelessly with him even though Sasuke had already snapped that Naruto was as gay as they come.

After a few more minutes pretending to listen to the two girls, he excused himself and slipped into the kitchen and out into the garden. As he leant against the wall and pulled a packet of cigarettes from his pocket, he heard two low voices around the side of the garages.

"I'm still in shit for what you did, you arsehole."

"I never asked you to get involved." Came the reply and Naruto recognised the voices as belonging to Sasuke and Kiba. "Besides, it was Hinata's idea. It was a lot of fun."

Sasuke growled. " _Killing_ someone is _fun_?" He hissed and Naruto unconsciously slipped further into the shadows for fear of being caught.

"He had it coming! You heard what Hinata said about him! He worked for the KMP!"

 _Are they talking about Agent Hyuuga?_ Naruto wondered, unconsciously leaning further away. His heart thundered loudly in his chest and he half expected them to hear it.

Sasuke sighed and stalked angrily around the corner, arms folded across his chest. "You're fucked in the head, you know that, right? I'm sick of Seven breathing down my neck because of your fucking mistakes."

"Fine. Whatever. I don't care what you think anymore." Kiba snapped, his voice rising. "Next time one of those little Agent fucks come around, you're on your own."

The brunette pushed harshly passed the other, storming back into the house. Sasuke lit a cigarette, took several deep drags before wasting the rest and slipping back into the house. Naruto waited for a few moments more, in case either man came back, before coming out of the shadows and lighting his own cigarette, immersing himself in thought.

The sound of the back door opening loudly made him jump and he spun around to come face to face with Sasuke. The raven frowned, moving to stand with him and lighting a joint. Neither of them said anything for a long time, both chasing the thoughts racing around their minds.

"I'm surprised you're not in there." Sasuke muttered, breaking the silence and jerking his head back towards the party still going on inside without them.

Naruto raised an eyebrow as he dropped his finished cigarette to the floor and stomped it out. "I'm not very good with large crowds. Didn't realise you cared that much, though."

The raven laughed softly. "I _don't_ particularly care. I don't trust you enough to care. More curious than anything."

"Figured you didn't trust me." The blond muttered. "What are you curious about?"

Sasuke was silent for a few moments, the joint between his fingers doing wonderings for calming him down. "Who you are, where you're from, that sort of thing. I'm really interested to know who Mr. Mystery is."

"Why?"

"Poor boy needs putting out of his misery." He flicked his half-finished joint away. Naruto frowned. "What with you and Kakashi all over one another."

"I'm not all over him!" The blond spluttered indignantly. "He's the one always clamouring over me! Despite how many times I'm not interested and I'm already seeing someone."

Sasuke huffed a soft laugh and put his arm around the blond's shoulder, pulling him close. "I'll let you in on a little secret." He muttered, his grip on Naruto's shoulder tightening and making the other wince. "What Kakashi wants, he gets. He wants you. And as much as you try to deny it, you want him too."

He pulled away then, leaving the blond confused and his arm suddenly cold. Neither of them said anything for a long time and at some point during that silence, the darker haired man pulled out another joint and lit it. Naruto absently waved the smoke away from him, lost in his thoughts.

"Did you have fun with your dad, today?"

Naruto jumped at the sudden break in silence and looked over at his colleague. Sasuke was frowning and wouldn't meet the blonds eye, only speaking because he simply couldn't stand the awkward silence any longer. Naruto sighed.

"He made me sit on Santa's knee. In the middle of the city." He mumbled angrily. There was a beat of silence before the other burst into laughter, holding his stomach.

"Oh, god. Are you serious!" He huffed out between laughter and Naruto pulled his phone out to show him the picture. "Oh, shit! You poor fucker!"

Naruto smirked and put the phone down between them with a shrug. "It was worth it to see dad smile the way he did. It's... been a while since he smiled like that."

Sasuke looked away then, thoughtful. "Hmm," he hummed. "I know what you mean. My brother up and disappeared on us several years ago. Mum hasn't been the same since."

If Sasuke noticed the agent tense at those words, he didn't say anything, choosing instead to stare at something unknown at the other end of the garden. Naruto shifted uncomfortably. Itachi had already told him his mother hadn't been all happy when she left. Hearing it from his boyfriend's brother made it all seem more real to him. Sasuke was a criminal, despite the semi-friendly conversation they had just shared, and Naruto was going to put him away for life.

Suddenly, the blond needed a drink.

He all but jumped from his seat, earning a strange look from his dark-haired companion, and he shifted his weight between his feet.

"I'm gonna get a drink, want one?"

Sasuke studied him for a moment, before nodding slowly. "Sure, I'll wait out here. Don't want to deal with Kiba."

Naruto nodded at the brief explanation and darted into the kitchen. Sasuke sighed and leant back, thoughts on his estranged older brother. He'd be hard pressed to admit that he actually missed the older Uchiha, though he had kept some tabs on Itachi in the decade since he'd last seen him. He knew what the man did for a living, knew that he lived in the capital. He hadn't been fortunate to find any further information, such as private life, but that was still a work in progress.

Naruto's phone rang loudly from its place on the bench next to him, making him jump. After a second's hesitation, he picked it up - fully intending to follow the blond into the kitchen. However, the name ' _Ian_ ' with a heart flashed across the screen and Sasuke grinned, taking only a moment to debate it before picking the phone up and answering it. He pressed it to his ear.

"Hey, dude, I don't suppose you happen to be dating Jamie Dawson, do you?"

" _Huh? Who is this?_ "

Sasuke frowned. That voice sounded familiar. "Jamie Dawson? Blond hair, blue eyes? Overexcited puppy when he sees something shiny?" He paused, still trying to place that voice. "Anyways, if you're dating him or not, it doesn't really matter. You can pass the message on for me. He's found someone better and has moved on."

"What are you doing?" Naruto's voice made Sasuke jump and he turned with a small smirk.

"Doing you a favour." He explained simply. "I told you I wanted to do it. Oh, hey. Is it Ian?"

"Sasuke, give me the phone. Now."

" _Sasuke? What's going on?_ "

The raven paused, holding Naruto away with a single hand. His own fingers trembled around the phone and he stared at his colleague. Confusion and disbelief sped across his pale features as his mind finally put a face to the voice in his ear.

"Itachi?"


	8. Chapter Seven

Soooo... this is probably gonna be the last chapter of 2017. Mostly cause of holidays and family stuffs we all have to do. But also partly because the next chapter isn't being very friendly. It doesn't currently want to be written >_>

I'll leave you with holiday blessings and happy new year wishes and I'll see ya in 2018 ^.^

Enjoy x

* * *

 

Naruto watched in an almost comically horrified fashion as that name tumbled from pale pink lips. He swallowed thickly as his raven colleague stared openly at him and he only prayed he looked more confused than scared. His heart pounded thunderously in his chest, louder than it had earlier. Neither said anything for a long time, the heavy silence in the cold night air broken only by music still streaming from the house behind them and the occasional squeal of laughter from its occupants.

Slowly, the confusion and disbelief that marred the pale face slowly morphed into unabashed anger that rivalled Naruto's own. The sudden anger washed over Naruto, almost bowling him over with its intensity. He was angry at Itachi for calling him _now_ of all times - they had a time set up specifically, when they knew they would be safe to talk freely. Furious at Sasuke for messing around with his phone. Absolutely livid with himself for leaving such an important and devastatingly crucial link to who he really was unattended.  
Sasuke had taken to his feet while the blond screamed internally at his stupidity, the phone still pressed to his ear. His brother's voice had long ago ceased, the phone call long over. Trembling fingers tightened around the device as Naruto finally found his voice.

"Sasuke, give me my phone."

The raven pulled the device away from his ear, looking down at it between his fingers, the screen now blank. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in through his nose before he could open them again. The look he threw in Naruto's direction made the young agent take a step back.

"Why do you have my brother's number?"

Naruto frowned, stomach coiling into knots. "I wasn't aware that I did." He mumbled, hoping he sounded more confused than wary.

Sasuke didn't give him a chance to take another step back.

In a flash he had thrown the blonds phone through the kitchen window, the sound of the glass shattering sounding like an explosion in the cold night air. The next thing Naruto knew, he was pinned to the wall of Kakashi's house with Sasuke's arm pressed hard against his throat. Tan fingers clawed at the arm and Naruto tried desperately to suck in air while the other screamed in his face.

" _Why do you have my brothers number?!_ "

Naruto's mouth opened and closed uselessly as he tried to breathe and find his words at the same time. The arm was pulled back, though only slightly, allowing the blond to pull in air.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" He wheezed.

"Ian," Sasuke growled, repositioning his arm and curling the fingers of both his hands into the blonds clothing.

"What about him?" Naruto croaked out, gripping Sasuke's wrists and trying to pull his hands away. The raven slackened slightly, dark eyes narrowed and calculating.

"His real name is Itachi. Did he send you here?" He snarled, voice still harsh. The blond flinched slightly at the tone. "Do you work for the KMP, too?"

"The KM... who? I don't know what you're talking about!" Sasuke hissed at his answer, pulling him close by his clothing before slamming him back against the wall. "Sasuke, stop! You're hurting me!"

"I don't give a _fuck_ if I'm hurting you," the raven snarled, emphasising just how little he cared with a shout. Behind him, he was vaguely aware of the door opening and closing as he reapplied the pressure against the blond. "Now tell me how you know him."

"Sasuke?" Came Kakashi's gentle baritone and Naruto couldn't decide if he were glad of the silver-haired man's appearance or not. "Jamie? What's going on?"

"This little shit," Sasuke growled, slamming Naruto against the wall again. "Has been playing you for a fool the whole time. His boyfriend just called. It's my brother."

Naruto forced himself to act surprised, allowing his eyes to widen. "W-what? No, that's not true! Ian's an only child!" He stuttered, renewing his efforts to push Sasuke away. "Where's my phone? Let me call him, he'll straighten it out!"

He sincerely hoped his bluff worked; he had absolutely _no intention_ of calling Itachi and could only pray that one, or both, of the men watching him would believe his innocence. Kakashi held up the blonds annihilated phone with a raised eyebrow and Naruto almost sighed with relief.

Sasuke seemed prepared to throw the blond to the ground and kick him in the head until he talked, until the older man dropped a gentle hand on his shoulder and pulled him away from the blond. The look he shot at Naruto had him pinned against the wall with as much effectiveness as his hands had. Naruto was, genuinely, too scared to move and had to remind himself that - despite having grown friendly with some of these people over the last few weeks - they were dangerous and one wrong move would have them turning against him.

"Jamie, stay there," Kakashi mumbled in a soft voice, though it was unnecessary. Naruto lifted his chin in a nod and scooted closer to the wall, finding inane solace in the brick against his back. He watched the silver-haired man muttering to Sasuke under his breath and he had to force himself not to lean forward and listen in. He had a feeling this was a conversation he didn't want to overhear, especially with the looks Sasuke kept shooting in his direction. 

After what felt like an age, Sasuke nodded his head and took an offered cigarette. He looked back over at the blond once more and held a single finger up, muttering something unheard to his boss, before stalking over to Naruto and slamming his fist into the blonds nose. 

"Sasuke," Kakashi growled in a warning as the blond cried out with the hit, smacking his head back against the wall with a crack. "Just get out of here. Get that job done and when you get back, come see me. I'll have another job waiting for you."

Sasuke lit his cigarette and stormed from the garden, kicking the side gate open and disappearing into the night. The gate crashed loudly against the wall and Kakashi watched after him for a long moment, ignoring Naruto behind him nursing his bloody nose. After a while, the silver-haired man disappeared into the kitchen and came back out seconds later with a bag of frozen peas, wrapped in a tea towel. He took Naruto's hand and led him to the bench, sitting him down.

"For the swelling." He muttered, pressing the cold bag none too gently to Naruto's nose and ignoring the hiss he received. Naruto mumbled his thanks and rested his hand on the bag, their fingers brushing. He told himself he didn't care when Kakashi's hand snapped away as if burnt.

The older man sighed.

"Tell me the truth."

Naruto swallowed thickly. "I met him when I was on holiday with my parents, back when they were still together. He told me his name was Ian, he lived in the same district as me in London. When we both got back, we started hanging out. Then, you know, _got together_. That was it, I swear. He told me his own parents lived in America. And when they moved out there he lived with some friends until he could afford his own place. I promise I don't know what Sasuke's talking about."

Kakashi watched the blond carefully, eyes scouring the younger face and searching for any hint of a lie. Naruto gazed back in earnest, eyes brimming with pain from his nose and begging the older man to believe him. Kakashi sighed again and took a seat at the other end of the bench, as far away from Naruto as possible.

The blond tried to act like that didn't hurt more than his nose.

"Madara told you about Akatsuki." The simple statement was muttered and almost inaudible. "He told you what they're infamous for, told you what they do and who they are."  
Naruto nodded along, slightly confused. Why was Kakashi telling him this?

"Once you become a part of it, betrayal means death. Not just for you, but for your loved ones, too. I only know of one person who was exempt from that rule and if you stick around long enough, you might learn his name."

"But not tonight?"

Kakashi shook his head, staring between his feet at the ground. "Not tonight. Did he give you any names?"

Naruto shook his own head, turning to look at his silver-haired companion. "No. He didn't. But I've had my suspicions since our talk."

Kakashi snorted a derisive laugh. "You know where I'm going with this, don't you? You're more intelligent than you let on."

"Blame the video games." The blond joked dryly. "I like the mystery ones best, where you have to figure things out with only small clues." He paused as he watched the older man and Kakashi raised his head, their eyes meeting in the dark. "You're part of it, aren't you? You, Sasuke, Madara... everyone in there..."

There was no hesitation with Kakashi's curt nod and Naruto closed his eyes, the hand holding the peas dropping to his side as he opened them again, staring across the empty garden. Wordlessly, Kakashi pulled his trouser leg up and revealed a small tattoo nestled just beneath the back of his knee. Naruto glanced at it, bright red and shaped like a cloud it felt ominous. Almost like a death sentence. It answered his question.

He, instead, directed a new one to the silver-haired man, one he almost didn't want to know the answer to.

"I'm in over my head, aren't I?" He mumbled, knowing exactly where this conversation was going. "With you, with this whole little town. _Fuck_ , why couldn't we have moved to Devon."

Kakashi snorted. "You have no idea. But this place isn't all bad. You just gotta get used to it." The silver-haired man got to his feet and cast his eyes to the skies. A fluttering of soft snow began to fall and the two watched in silence for a few moments before Kakashi turned to head inside. "It's probably best if you stay here tonight. We've got a long drive in the morning."

Naruto nodded, dislodging a few stray snowflakes from his hair as the older man hovered at the door, halfway between in the house and in the garden. "I'll be in in a few minutes."

Kakashi gave him a curt nod, only noticeable if you were looking for it, before disappearing back inside and returning to his party guests. He felt confident the blond wouldn't run away. He didn't have anywhere to run in the first place and Kakashi had learnt - in the short time they knew each other - that Naruto wasn't that kind of person. 

**\----X----**

The apartment was dark and silent when he finally managed to pick the lock. The door swung inwards, like he thought it would, and he caught the handle before the door itself slammed against anything. It had taken longer than he had hoped to get here, thanks to the snow that started falling, and it was almost two in the morning now. He didn't need neighbours hearing him crashing about and coming out to investigate. After a moment to make sure the halls behind him were still empty, he crept inside, closing the door with a soft click behind him. He paused in the entryway, eyes darting around him.

The distant sound of a leaky tap reached his ears.

Sneaking quietly through the entrance, he found himself in a large, tidy living room with the kitchen to his right. The left wall was lined with bookshelves filled with games, books and movies. A few framed photos were arranged along it. He stalked over and grabbed one of the pictures, staring down into two faces he recognised. His brother and his new blond colleague sat grinning at the camera, arms around each other in various places and the lights of an arcade lighting them from behind. Sasuke sucked in a breath; he hadn't seen his brother that happy for a long time.

Clutching the photo tight in his hand, he made his way almost silently through the apartment and into the kitchen. 

In the kitchen, he found the source of the dripping and, despite himself, turned the tap off to stop the annoying noise. He placed the picture frame on the counter beside him and stood at the sink for a few moments, hands leaning against the cold metal. His thoughts strayed from his job to his brother without hesitation.

"Most people knock."

The voice behind him made him jump and Sasuke spun around in place. His eyes narrowed as they met matching ones across the darkened room and he folded his arms over his chest. Itachi stood before him and if he looked surprised to see his kid brother after so many years, he didn't show it. Sasuke drank in the sight of him. His hair was much longer than it had been when he left, tied in a loose ponytail at the base of his neck. He was taller and looked like he'd been working out a lot.

Sasuke closed his eyes and turned his head away.

"Itachi." He mumbled and it was almost a greeting. The older sibling narrowed his eyes and raised his chin. Sasuke felt his blood boil at the familiar mannerism; Itachi had always looked down on him in that very same fashion and it irked him to know the older man still thought he were the better of the two siblings.

"Why did you come here?"

Sasuke scoffed at Itachi's tone and looked back at his brother, glaring at him. "It's been over a decade since we last saw each other and yet here you are, still thinking you're better than me."

"You're the one that chose the life of a petty criminal." Itachi pointed out, lifting himself onto the counter and folding his hands in his lap. He looked down his nose at his younger brother and Sasuke bit back the urge to throw something. "I'm the one working to stop people like you."

"I may be a _criminal_ ," the younger man snarled. "But at least I didn't turn my back on my family. I didn't rip my parent's hearts out because I thought I was better than them."

"Perhaps." Itachi agreed with a small, barely noticeable, nod. "But answer me this; what do you think you do to the families of your victims ?"

Sasuke slammed a hand down on the counter, the sound echoing through the apartment. "I didn't come here for a pissing contest!" He snapped, turning furious eyes to his brother. Itachi inclined his head once more.

"Then why are you here?"

"I have a message," Sasuke muttered, taking a deep breath and forcing himself to calm down. "Stay away from Jamie. He doesn't concern you anymore. He doesn't want you anymore. He's... upgraded. If you have any contact with him, you will regret it. Understand?" He grabbed at the photo, waving it in front of his brother. "And times like these _will_ be a distant memory." With a lazy flick of his wrist, he flung the frame across the room. It slammed into the fridge and shattered with a satisfying crash.

Itachi's eyes widened ever so slightly and if the younger man hadn't been paying attention, he would have missed it. Itachi shrugged, though it made his heart ache to do so.

"It's not like I loved him anyway. He was just something to pass the time when I wasn't working."

Sasuke scoffed. "You think you're better than me with _that_ attitude? Shit, you're a fucking arsehole."

Itachi inhaled sharply, slipping off the counter and stalking to the door. He opened it for his younger brother who had followed him from the kitchen. "Anything else?"

Sasuke huffed a disbelieving laugh and shook his head. "No."

"Good. You can leave." Itachi watched quietly as his younger brother wandered through the door without looking back.

"Oh, and Sasuke?" He called, making the other pause and turn. "The next time I see you, you'll be behind bars. I hope you know that."

And he slammed the door shut, turning back to his empty apartment and pretending he couldn't feel his heart breaking with every step.

**\----X----**

Naruto tried to hide his yawn behind his hand, but his companions smirk told him he'd failed. Huffing out a soft sigh, he turned to look out his window, watching the world passing by as Kakashi drove him god only knew where. Apart from the occasional grumbled road rages, the older man spent the entire drive in silence.

"Are you going to tell me where we're going, yet?" He asked if only to hear something other than the gentle hum of the car beneath him.

"You know where we're going," Kakashi stated, keeping his eyes on the road. Naruto bit back another sigh.

"Yeah, I know. But I mean _where_. Like, London? Cardiff? Brighton? Where?" He didn't care if he sounded like a child; he was tired, dammit!

Kakashi had dragged him out of bed (in the spare room, _alone_ , for which Naruto was eternally grateful) and marched him over the road to his own home to grab an overnight bag, a shower and a change of clothes. At six am. When the party had finally died down at four am. Naruto had not been impressed. Once his overnight bag was ready, Naruto had then been dragged back across the street and locked in Kakashi's car while the older man made several important looking phone calls (if phone calls could _look_ important anyways, but judging by Kakashi's unwavering expression during the calls, then yes. They were important). From the front door. Eyes continually glued on Naruto and the car. The blond really wished he were able to lip-read. If he succeeded in this mission, he would take on classes.

Kakashi glanced at him through the corner of his eyes, a small smirk tugging at his lips. "Cambridge." He said at last. "More specifically, Alconbury Western. Just outside the city proper."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at him. "Ain't that, like, out in the middle of nowhere? Like, with secluded log cabins with no around for miles? This isn't a murder trip, is it? You're not gonna take me to one of these cabins and murder me?"

Kakashi scoffed. "You watch too many movies. No. No cabins and no murders. I promise. And it's not like I'm taking you into backcountry or anything. Alconbury Western is a small little village. Plenty of people around, rest assured."

"Sure," Naruto muttered with a disbelieving huff. He slipped further into his seat and folded his arms over his chest, letting his eyes slip closed. "Can I ask you something?"

Kakashi grunted.

"What did you ask Sasuke to do? Last night, I mean."

The silence in the car was heavy as Kakashi thought carefully about how to word his answer. He knew the blond wouldn't like what he had to say, either way. But he would just have to get on with it. The circumstances couldn't change, after all. As they pulled into traffic, thanks largely to the snow storm during the night, he glanced over at the blond. 

"He went to see Itachi." He said at last. Naruto's eyes snapped open and he swung his head around to stare at the older man. Kakashi gave him a levelled look and the blond swallowed audibly.

"What?" He squeaked.

Kakashi studied the blonds reaction carefully. "We still don't know if you were lying, if he sent you. But all Sasuke was told to do was to tell Itachi to... back off."

Naruto frowned. "What do you mean?"

Kakashi scoffed and returned his attention to the slowly moving traffic. "Consider yourself single."

Naruto bolted upright in his seat. "What? What the hell!"

"He lied to you for years." The silver-haired man muttered, surprised. "Why are you so upset? Unless there's something you're not telling me?"

"No, it's not that. I would have preferred the chance to talk to him about it. And anyways, you don't own me, you can't be making my decisions for me."

Kakashi laughed loudly at that, the sound warming Naruto more than he would admit out loud. "You forget, you accepted everything last night by simply not running away. Whether you like it or not, you're a part of this now. And because of the circumstances, one wrong move and I won't be able to protect you."

The blond stayed silent, slumping back into his seat and turning his eyes back out the window. _Fuck_ , he found himself thinking as the traffic crawled along at a snail's pace. _I'm so screwed_.


	9. Chapter Eight

Cerulean eyes followed the raven crossing the office space quickly, nervously, before disappearing down a hall. Minato frowned. Itachi was due to be on assignment from that afternoon, in a small town in Scotland. So what was the young agent doing in the offices and not at home packing? And looking like the world was about to end, no less.

Narrowing his eyes, Minato got to his feet, planning to follow the raven and find out what was wrong. He was halfway across the room when his heart almost stopped, realisation hitting him like a tonne of bricks.

_Has something happened to Naruto?_

He shook his head, forcing his legs to start working again and following along behind the raven. His heart racing as he realised where the younger agent was headed.

 _Surely not. Naruto's fine._ He reassured himself. _If something was wrong, they would let me know first._

Stomach churning uncomfortably, he sped up and round the corner quickly, skidding to a halt before the two men. Itachi and Jiraiya stared, wide-eyed, at his sudden appearance and for a moment the three men watched each other carefully.

"What's going on?" Minato panted, fingers gripping painfully at his left arm.

Jiraiya sighed, combing his fingers through his shaggy white hair. "It seems Naruto's in a little bit of trouble." He muttered eventually, eying the blond carefully. "He's gone missing."

"WHAT?" Minato shouted and the blond found himself quickly shoved into Jiraiya's office. The door slammed behind him and the blond spun on his heal, glaring at his superior, body practically vibrating with nerves. "What the fuck is going on? I demand to know."

Jiraiya silenced him with a glare, taking his seat behind his desk. Itachi followed suit, twisting his hands in his lap nervously.

"What I'm about to tell you doesn't leave this room." He started, shooting another, more pointed, glare at the blond standing angrily at the door. "You are not authorised to make any rash movements, Minato. I know you're worried, but you'll only make things worse for Naruto if you go storming off to find him."

Minato folding his arms over his chest and leant against the door, taking a deep breath to calm himself down. "Fine."

Jiraiya eyed him warily for a few moments before breathing a deep sigh and lacing his fingers together in front of him. "Iruka and Naruto believe they have their prime suspect and your son has put himself in close proximity to this man. From the minimal information Iruka has managed to get back to us, we've learned that Naruto is now in this mans employment and was supposed to attend a work Christmas party last night. 

"He didn't return home last night and his phone has been switched off. Iruka's inability to contact Naruto worried him, so he went to their suspects home to find neither Naruto or this man were there. Now," he added quickly, louder than before and cutting Minato off before the blond could start shouting. "At the moment, we have no evidence to suggest that anything has actually happened to Naruto."

"But you just said -."

"I know what I said." The older man snapped. "And until we know otherwise, we _will_ not be making any movements against the Akatsuki. We are _not_ leaving Naruto alone in this, however. We have already notified local authorities around the area and provided them with a vague description of Naruto. If they see him, they are to let us know immediately that he is unharmed, without taking any action against anyone he is with."

Minato sighed, leaning against the door more heavily. "Fine, I get it." He muttered eventually. "What's even happening down there? Do we know anything? This suspects name? _Anything_?"

Jiraiya scoffed. "Of course I do. But you're not privy to that information and you know it. More importantly than that, I want to know how this has come about. And why you were so adamant to interrupt my meeting this morning, Itachi."

The raven, who had been silent up until now, stiffened in his seat as the attention was focused on him. Swallowing nervously, he sat up straighter in his seat and squared his jaw, looking over Jiraiya's shoulder at nothing in particular before he spoke.

"I believe this was my fault." He spoke clearly, trying to keep his voice calm. "Naruto's disappearance, I mean."

Minato pushed away from the door, confused and concerned as he moved further into the room and taking a seat beside the raven.

"How could this possibly be your fault?" He asked, voice soft. He liked Itachi, appreciated the kind way the boy treated his son and had practically adopted him into their family when Naruto had told him they were together.

Itachi swallowed audibly, still looking anywhere but at his two superiors in the room. "Last... Last night, I called him..."

"You did what?" Itachi tensed at the voice, though it was Jiraiya who spoke and not the blond at his side. "Why the hell would you do that?"

"I... Wasn't thinking..." That much was true. He and Naruto had set up specific times during the week when they both knew the blond would be safe to speak. While it had been Naruto who had suggested he would be keeping in contact with the raven as much as his assignment would allow, it was Itachi that had changed it from a text or two a week to a phone call almost four times a week. He knew it was stupid and dangerous, but he couldn't help but worry about his younger lover.

"No shit!" Minato shouted, jumping to his feet. The chair screeched loudly as it scraped across the floor. He slammed his fist against the dark wood of Jiraiya's desk. "What the hell, Itachi? You're a seasoned agent! You know you shouldn't contact others while they're on assignment! You could get Naruto _killed_!"

"Minato, calm down and shut the fuck up or get out. Your choice." Jiraiya growled, eyes narrowing dangerously. "No sense getting yourself worked up, it's done now. Now, what happened, Uchiha?"

"I know we shouldn't have been contacting each other. Even though we were normally very careful, it was a stupid idea..." He hesitated. He had no problem admitting when he was in the wrong, that was why he was there in the first place. It was the rest of him that worried him. "I... Wasn't supposed to call him last night. It wasn't one of our scheduled nights... But, with me leaving today, but I wanted to talk to him before I left."

"This just keeps getting better and better." Minato growled, slumping back into his seat and dropping his head into his hands. Itachi glanced over at the blond, guilt searing through him.

"It... It wasn't Naruto that answered..." He mumbled, his gaze dropping to his hands still wringing nervously in his lap. "S-Sasuke answered. I didn't recognise his voice right away and he didn't recognise mine. It's been so long since we spoke to one another, I suppose that's no surprise, really. He started asking if I was the one dating Jamie Dawson and, of course, I didn't know who that was so I questioned it.

"Then I heard Naruto's voice asking Sasuke what was going on. There isn't much more to it than that. He asked Naruto why he had my number, then nothing. The line died. I don't know anything more than that." He glanced over at the blond still holding his head in his hands. "I'm so sorry, Minato..."

The blond glanced up at the younger agent, glaring at him with gritted teeth. He opened his mouth, to scream or argue, but Jiraiya cut him off.

"You can go now, Minato." He said, voice calm. "And remember what I said earlier. If I even think you're about to do something rash, you'll be on suspension. Do I make myself clear?"

Minato turned his fierce glare on his superior, clenching his fists furiously at his sides. "Crystal." He ground out, stomping across the room and through the door, slamming it behind him. With him gone, the older man turned to Itachi, his gaze stern. The raven kept his gaze on his lap.

"Itachi..." Jiraiya started, the tone of his voice making the younger agent look him in the eye for the first time that morning. "While I understand what you were thinking, what you did was very stupid."

"Yes, sir."

"It's too late to pull you out of your assignment now, so you'll still be leaving in a few hours. And recent, stupid mistakes aside, you're still one of our best agents. The Scots have been running on nothing for last few weeks, they need the help and support you can provide. However. When you return, I'm putting you in for a three week, unpaid suspension."

Itachi glanced back down at his hands. "Yes, sir."

"You will not even try to contact Naruto again until his has finished his job. We have three capable agents at work down there and I don't want to risk losing any of them. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

Jiraiya eyed him carefully, the raven keeping his eyes downcast. "You're dismissed." He said eventually, getting to his feet. Itachi quickly followed suit. "Have a safe trip this afternoon. And good luck, not that you need it."

Itachi lowered his head in a small bow and made eye contact with his superior as they shook hands. "Thank you, sir." He mumbled before quickly exiting the office, closing the door quietly behind him.

Jiraiya retook his seat and booted up his laptop, loading his emails and quickly scanning through the information Iruka had sent through earlier that morning.

_So... Madara Uchiha, huh?_

**\----X----**

There were many things that Naruto prided himself on; he was more intelligent than he let on, worked out daily and was in good shape, both physically and mentally. He had a photographic memory for faces and could sketch someone perfectly, having only seen or met them once. He could memorise a lot of information quickly - be it written or spoken - and he was great at keeping classified information, well, classified.

But right now, he was probably most proud of his ability to take a beating.

He shot a weak, halfhearted glare at Kakashi stood on the other side of the room. The silver-haired man, to his credit, didn't seem overly impressed with the situation even though he had been the one to bring Naruto out here.

"I thought you said this wasn't gonna be a murder mystery weekend..."

Kakashi grimaced - at least, Naruto _thought_ he grimaced, but he couldn't quite make out the older mans expression through the surgical mask covering the lower half of his face - and ran shaking fingers through his gravity-defying hair. He sighed loudly and looked away, tugging the mask higher on his nose without replying. Naruto growled low in the back of his throat.

The strange creature of a man before him cackled loudly, fingers tangling none too gently into blond locks and pulling Naruto back round to face him.

"This ain't no murder _mystery_ weekend," he said gleefully, leering at the agent and bearing his teeth, sharp and filed to a point. "If I don' like what ya tell me, it won' be no _mystery_ how I killed ya!"

"Kisame." Kakashi barked, turning his body completely away from the couple. "Just get it over with already." He added in a mutter as he opened the door.

"Not gonna stay an' see what tha little prick says?"

"If he comes out of here alive then I don't need to hear it. Seven trusts your judgement." He glanced over his shoulder at the strange man. "We both know you won't give him a reason to doubt you."

Naruto listened carefully to the conversation, filing the information away for a nice long chat with Iruka when he got home. _If_ he got home. Kakashi's eyes met his and he was almost certain he was begging his neighbour not to leave with his eyes.

"I didn't sign up for torture..." He called as Kakashi turned away again. The older man paused in the doorway.

"If I recall correctly, you didn't _sign up_ at all. Itachi Uchiha dropped you into this mess."

The door closed with a soft click as the man left, the sound resonating in the room and making Naruto feel like his fate was sealed. Fingers tightened in his hair and he winced as he was forced to look back at Kisame.

"Just me an' ya now, beautiful." He leered with a feral grin, those sharpened teeth inching closer to Naruto's neck. The blond swallowed audibly. "So, ya gonna tell me how ya know 'Tachi?"

"I already told you. I met him on holiday, found out with lived in the same district in London, hung out, got together. That's it. End of story. How many times do you want me to tell you the same fucking story?"

Kisame's grin widened, fingers tightening once more in Naruto's hair, before he slammed the blonds head back. Naruto cried out loudly as he head cracked against the wall behind him. "Wha' I don' get..." The strange man muttered, ignoring Naruto. "If 'Tachi knew ya was on assignment, why would he call ya?"

"Because I'm not-."

"I mean, he holds a decen' position in the KMP, so lover or not he woulda known if ya was outta play fer a bit." The fingers slipped from his hair and the strange man sauntered over to the other side of the room. Naruto swallowed thickly, watching as the man picked up several different items from the table there, choosing his next course of action carefully while completely ignoring the blond.

"Will you listen to me! I'm telling you the truth!" Naruto shouted, straining against the restraints holding him to the chair. "I have nothing to do with the KMP, I swear! And I'm still not sure I believe _you guys_ when you say Ian does!"

Kisame was across the room and in the blonds face before Naruto could blink, a crack resonating against the dark walls. A strange, choked noise broke itself free from Naruto's throat and pain shot through his cheek, his head snapped to the left and he was sure he bit his tongue. The strange man placed the paddle against Naruto's other cheek, forcing the blond to look back at him, the menacing smile gracing those creepy features had shivers racing down his spine.

"Oh, tha things I could tell ya 'bout ya little lover." He leered, reaching up with his free hand and gripping the blonds chin tightly between his finger and his thumb. "But, I'll save tha' fer another time. For now, I'm more interested in ya."

"There's nothing more to tell." Naruto ground out. "I've already told you several times everything I know."

Kisame grinned at him, using the paddle against the other cheek, snapping the blonds head in the opposite direction. Naruto cried out, feeling something in his neck crack unpleasantly at the same time. He whimpered softly as the grip on his chin tightened ever so slightly and he was forced, once again, to meet those beady eyes.

"There's more hidden in there," he growled out, the grin bordering on feral now, baring his sharpened teeth at the blond. "I can jus' tell." He dropped the panel and curled his fingers into a fist, slamming it into the blond's stomach. "Trust me, I'll ge' it all outta ya. One way or another."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't like the way I made Kisame talk... >_>
> 
> Remind me not to put him in here too much xD


	10. Chapter Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This would have been up yesterday but I had a tattoo done instead xD sorry but that was much more appealing xP
> 
> A little, light smut in this chapter, be warned!
> 
> Enjoy <3

As he slowly dragged his subconscious forth, forcing himself to wake up even without the willpower to open his eyes, Naruto was acutely aware of three things in quick succession. The first, and perhaps the most important, was the pain seeping itself through his very bones. He, of course, remembered his fate at the strange man's fingertips, remembered almost every minute detail of torture the man put him through. What he didn't remember was losing consciousness nor being moved from that room to wherever he was now.

Which brought him to the second thing; he was floating on a cloud. At least, he _thought_ he was. There could be no other explanation for the comfortable fluffiness that cushioned his back from most of the pain, nor the soft warmth that enveloped the rest of his body. With a small sigh, he snuggled further into the cloud, almost relishing in the third thing.

Fingers gently combed through his hair, seeking to comfort him. They reminded him of his father's fingers that had the same, soothing effect on him for many a year after his mothers passing. And for a moment, he forgot where he was. He leaned into the touch, felt his lips curl into a small smile that tugged painfully at the cut across the bottom one.

"Hey dad," he heard himself mumble, lost in memories long past. The cloud dipped beneath him and the fingers ceased their gentle combing as the person with him leant over him, pressing soft lips to his neck and effectively breaking the moment.

Naruto forced his eyes to open, gaze meeting stark grey tresses in front of him as those soft lips continued the assault on his neck. A hand ran up his side under the duvet covering him, the pressure still comforting despite the situation, and he found himself tilting his head back, giving those heavenly lips more space to work, biting back a moan.

"Wouldn't peg you as someone with a daddy kink." Came the rumbling voice that accompanied the silver hair. Naruto froze, his body tensing painfully as Kakashi's face came into view, an unabashed smirk tugging at his lips. His stomach churned though he couldn't tell if it was uncomfortable or pleasant as his gaze locked with his neighbours. But either way, the spell was broken. "But, hey, I think I can work with that."

"Get off me." The blond growled, struggling to push himself away from Kakashi and into an upright position against the wall. He gasped, wrapping his arms around his stomach as renewed pain washed over him and Kakashi's smirk dropped, morphing into a look of concern.

"Hey, be careful." He muttered, reaching out and gripping the blond's shoulders gently, deftly ignoring Naruto's attempts at escape. "Stop wriggling." He said, tone stern and grip tightening. "You're not fully healed yet."

Blue eyes met grey and Naruto frowned, for now allowing the older man to hold his shoulders.

"I'm not dead." He said bluntly, almost disbelieving as he and Kakashi stared at one another. Kakashi grinned at him.

"How very astute of you." He said with a grin, letting go of the blond and moving back to sit in his chair once more. He folded his arms over his chest and crossed his legs at his ankles. "How do you feel?" He asked, voice soft and serious as he watched Naruto struggle to get comfortable.

"Like I was hit by a truck." The blond grumbled, lifting the duvet with shaking fingers. He was dressed only in his boxers, which made only slightly uncomfortable but it was something he could worry about later; he needed to know what was going on. "What happened?"

Kakashi sighed and reached for his cigarettes on Naruto's bedside table, lighting it quickly and taking a deep drag. "You're resilient, I'll give you that." He said at last, watching the blond carefully through the smoke. "Lasted longer than anyone else."

"I'm sorry, am I supposed to be proud of that?" The blond snapped, shifting away in the bed as much as he could. Kakashi's grin widened and the blond sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Okay fine. Care to tell me why you didn't go for a more modern method? Like drugs or a lie detector?"

Kakashi actually laughed at this, dropping his have smoked cigarette on the floor and stomping it out before climbing on the bed, hovering over the blond. Naruto leaned away from him.

"Sometimes the more archaic methods are much more fun. But don't worry, I didn't let Kisame get carried away. The man does his job well." He muttered, leaning in closer. He ran his fingers down Naruto side once more, resting his hand on the boy's hip. Naruto shuddered. "Besides," he continued, voice dropping low. "Now I can play nurse and make you feel better."

His lips found Naruto's neck once more, pressing featherlight kiss down the tan column. The blond gasped as he nibbled softly on the pulse, reaching up and gripping his neighbour's shoulders, unsure if he wanted to push him away or pull him closer.

"W-wait!" He gasped, somehow finding the willpower to push at Kakashi's shoulders. Reluctantly, the older man pulled away, though his hand still rested on Naruto's hip, thumb tracing circles over cotton covered skin. "Wh-what does this mean? For me? Did... did I... pass or whatever?"

Kakashi smirked and leant in again, this time pressing his lips to Naruto's. The blond gasped at the sudden contact, fingers tightening their grip on Kakashi's shoulders as he tried to push the man away. Kakashi ran his hand up Naruto's side again, pressing gently against the wounds on his chest and moving to straddle the boy's legs, deepening the kiss as he moved. His other hand came up and cupped the blonds cheek before slipping around his neck and his fingers curled in the short locks. Naruto sighed despite himself, eyes slipping closed, fingers loosening their hold on the man's shoulders as his arms moved to wrap carefully around Kakashi's neck instead, pulling him closer.

The older man nipped at Naruto's bottom lip as he pulled away, pressing their foreheads together. Another smirk tugged at his lips when the blond whimpered quietly.

"As you pointed out, you're not dead." He whispered, voice taking on a husky tone that did things to Naruto that he wasn't ready to admit. "You were unconscious for two days, so we're going to stay here a little longer. We don't want to take you back to your dad all broken, now, do we?"

He leaned in again and Naruto regained a modicum of his higher reasoning, jerking his head back slightly. "And after that...?"

Their lips just brushed as he spoke and another shudder shot down his spine.  
"After that you'll be shown the ropes, we'll give you some basic self-defence lessons. And then you'll be working for us."

"I already work for you," Naruto pointed out. Kakashi smirked, his thumb still tracing meaningless patterns into his hip.

"You have no idea." He growled, seizing the blond's lips in one of those searing kisses that left Naruto trembling. "Now," Kakashi added, kissing down Naruto's jaw. "No more stalling." 

Despite himself, Naruto felt his body melting at the soft touches. He allowed the silver-haired man to kiss down his neck, nibbling and sucking were he saw fit and leaving a trail of fire in his wake. Trembling, tan fingers wrapped around Kakashi's neck, wound into his hair and tugged gently as the older man bit down more harshly, sucking and soothing the wound with his tongue and leaving the blond a panting mess under his ministrations. Pale fingertips danced over the bandages Naruto hadn't realised covered his chest and played softly with his nipples through the fabric before running back down his body. He pulled the boy towards him, away from the wall and the pillows and into a more accessible position.

Naruto moaned quietly, Kakashi's name a broken mantra on his lips as those teasing fingers dipped below the waistband of his boxers and tickled through the light smattering of hair there before the hand disappeared completely. He arched his back off the mattress as those deft fingers wrapped around his heated flesh, pumping him gently into full hardness.

The lips followed the same path.

"Sho-should we really b-be doing th-this..." he stammered, heat pooling in his gut as his boxers were slipped down just far enough to release his erection. His fingers left Kakashi's hair and he palmed uselessly at the sheets, unable to get a grip on them. "Aren't I - _fuck_ \- s-supposed to be on b-bed rest?"

Kakashi hummed softly, running his tongue along the swollen cock and pressing a dainty kiss to the head. Naruto could feel the smirk against his skin.

"Pleasure is good for your recovery." He mumbled, lips wrapping around the head and suckling teasingly on it.

"Hah... sh-shit..." he groaned, fingers tightening in silver hair. "B-bullshit..."

Kakashi hummed a laugh, taking the length down his throat expertly, not stopping until he felt the head press against the back of his throat. Blindly, one-handed, he slipped a small tube of lube from his pocket and coated two fingers, only teasing the blonds entrance for a fraction of a second before pressing one straight inside without further hesitation.

Naruto cried out loudly, fingers slipping uselessly from Kakashi's hair and twisting in the sheets as Kakashi pulled off his cock and groaned loudly.

"Holy fuck, Jamie." He grunted, twisting his finger and pumping it slowly in and out of the blond. "So fucking tight, shit. How many times did Itachi fuck you?"

Naruto whimpered, shaking his head, fingers gripping uselessly at the sheets beneath him. Kakashi gave him a feral grin and growled loudly as his finger was sucked back in.

"Shit, I can't wait to take you." He hissed, slipping a second finger in and scissoring them, stretching the blond, though he had no intentions of fucking him today. That, at least, he could wait for until the boy was fully healed. With a lick of his lips, he took the swollen cock back into his mouth, sucking hard and bobbing his head in time with his fingers thrusts.

Naruto panted and mewled beneath him, feeling his climax quickly approaching. Itachi had never touched him like this, it had always been the other way around, and now he understood just why the raven loved it so much.

"K-kashi... s-stop... cum... I'm gonna c-." He panted, fingers finding their way back to the older man's hair. "P-please... _fuck_..."

Kakashi breathed a sigh through his nose at the sounds dripping from the blond's lips as he took him all the way into his mouth again. At the same time, he curled his fingers, raking his nails against Naruto's prostate, sucking hard on the cock in his mouth.

With no more time to warn his neighbour, Naruto's head dropped back against the wall with a soft thud and he jerked his hips up into that awaiting mouth, spilling himself down Kakashi's throat with a loud groan of the man's name. Kakashi milked him dry, rubbing his fingers over Naruto's prostate until it was so overstimulated it was almost painful.

He lay next to the blond of the bed, running his fingers through his hair and pressing the occasional kiss to his neck as Naruto came down from his high, panting and worn out.

"What... was that... for...?" The blond asked in a breathless voice, turning his head to look at his neighbour. Kakashi gave him a smile, warm and bright and genuine that made Naruto's heart flutter in his chest.

"I was taking what is mine." He said quietly, leaning close to press their lips gently together. "Forget about Itachi or Ian or whatever you called him. I'll take you higher than he could ever dream of."

**\----X----**

Three days later, they were on their way home. Naruto had been given a clean bill of health from Kakashi 'Doctor friend' whose name he was never told. Naruto didn't trust the red-haired man.

He hadn't seen much of Kakashi for those three days, though he often heard him quietly talking - presumably on the phone - out in the back garden. He'd never been able to make out what the man was saying, just a mumbled one-sided conversation. He usually appeared with the doctor - for which Naruto was eternally grateful - and stayed for an hour or so after the man left before leaving to do God only knew what. Leaving Naruto alone with way too much free time on his hands.

On the day of their departure, with an okay to leave from the doctor, Kakashi had insisted he pack for them. Once he had bundled everything into the car, he returned to the door where he'd left a nervous blond with the strange Kisame. Shaking Kisame's hand and thanking him for his 'hard work', he proceeded to turn to Naruto and swept him into his arms, carrying him bridal style to the car. The blond could only thank whatever deity there was that it was late at night and most of the neighbours were too busy sleeping to witness his embarrassment.

Once he was in, safely buckled into the car, Kakashi returned to Kisame's side for a quick and quiet conversation that left Naruto wishing - yet again - that he knew how to lip read. He watched the two carefully, trying not to squint as he attempted to make out the words passing between the two men. Kakashi was watching him back, a knowing smirk on his face and whatever he said next made Kisame grin widely. Naruto shivered unpleasantly at that grin; that alone didn't bode well for anyone.

Kakashi climbed in shortly afterwards, raising his hand in farewell to the strange man as he pulled from the drive. "How are you feeling?" He asked after a moments silence. Naruto nodded.

"Still a bit sore, but nothing I can't handle."

Kakashi returned the nod, eyes focused on the road as they left the village and joined the traffic heading towards the motorway. "We should be back by about 5 am."

"Want me to drive? I've slept enough for the last few days, I could use a change of pace."

Kakashi smiled at him and rested a hand on his knee for a moment. "We'll swap later."

The rest of the drive was silent, the two only exchanging a short conversation when they stopped for a break at a service station about halfway home. Naruto took over after that, leaving Kakashi to get some sleep and Naruto to his thoughts.

He would work this angel, he decided as he switched lanes. His stomach twisted uncomfortably at the thought of Itachi, but he was sure the raven would understand when he explained. He hoped, anyway. And this, he reasoned (already trying to convince himself more than anybody else), was the easiest way to get as close as he needed to.

Huffing a small sigh, he glanced over at his neighbour sleeping peacefully in the passenger seat, smile somewhat sad and stomach churning in a way that he, once again, couldn't understand.

They arrived a little closer to half-past six than five am, having hit the early morning commuters. Kakashi woke the moment the car came to a complete stop on his drive, quickly grabbing Naruto's arm as he made to get out. The blond jumped as he was dragged back into the car and cuddled over the gear stick.

"Stay." The older man mumbled sleepily, nuzzling into Naruto's neck.

Naruto winced as the gear stick dug painfully into his back, nodding quickly if only to get the other off him. "Sure. But perhaps somewhere more comfortable."

He regretted the words almost instantly as Kakashi glanced up at him through his eyelashes, a smirk pressing against the back of Naruto's neck. He pulled away at last, releasing the blond and moving to get out himself. Naruto followed suit rather hesitatingly as Kakashi directed him around the front of the car with a nod of his head, lacing their fingers together when the blond was within reach. He led Naruto into the house, stumbling slightly in his half-asleep state, and collapsed onto the bed immediately when they reached his room, dragging Naruto down with him. The blond couldn't deny he was very comfortable; the weight of Kakashi's arm over his waist, the warmth of him pressed against his back and the bed very similar in fluffiness to the one in Cambridge. It didn't take long before he eyes began to droop and he fell into a deep sleep, snuggling into Kakashi's warmth.

**\----X----**

Iruka actually threw himself at Naruto when the blond (accompanied by Kakashi) stumbled through the door later that same day. Naruto winced at his pretend fathers actions, awkwardly hugging the man back and patting his shoulder.

"Hey, dad." He mumbled, glancing back at their neighbour who was watching Naruto's mortification with an amused smirked.

"Where the bloody hell have you been?!" Iruka screeched, pulling away from Naruto though only enough to hold the blond by his shoulders at arm's length.

"Ah, Kakashi sprung a surprise on me." He mumbled, scratching the back of his neck.

_Translation; I didn't have much choice._

Iruka's eyes flashed knowingly.

"You could have called me! I've been at my wits end!"

_Translation; I've already informed our superiors about your sudden disappearance._

Naruto nodded. "I know, I'm sorry. I broke my phone at the party and we left really early the next morning." Iruka finally let him go, nodding his acceptance before rounding on the apparently unprepared Kakashi.

"And you," he growled menacingly, jabbing the man's chest harshly. "Did you really think it was acceptable to whist my _teenage_ son away for _six days_ without giving me any notice?"

_Translation; I want to fucking murder you._

To his credit, the smirk dropped quickly from Kakashi's lips. Despite the rumours about himself, even he was susceptible to a fathers wrath and he slowly backed away from the fuming brunette, rubbing his chest indignantly. Naruto almost felt bad for his neighbour, who flicked a terrified glance in his direction. However, he decided that Kakashi had brought it on himself (no, really, it was all Naruto's fault but he wasn't going to admit that he'd almost been caught out so soon) and he would have to deal with the consequences.  
Iruka practically screamed at Kakashi for half an hour - which amused Naruto greatly - before his voice grew hoarse and he croaked out for Kakashi to leave.

The silver-haired man quickly did as he was told, not before giving Naruto a quick and chaste kiss on the lips, and Iruka flopped heavily down onto the sofa with a groan.

"I'm really sorry," Naruto muttered, plopping himself down next to his partner now that the shouting had finally stopped. "I didn't have a choice in any of this. Nor did he give me any time to let you know we were leaving."

"Where did you even go? What happened?"

"Shit, where to start?" The blond grouched, settling himself further into the sofa and resting his head on Iruka's shoulder. He started with the party and the phone call. "Itachi called me, but I left my phone unattended so Sasuke answered. I can only guess that they've threatened him now. So, we're no longer together. Can't wait for _that_ conversation when I get back. As for where we went, turns out they own property in Alconbury Western. Kakashi took me there to be... Interrogated..." He paused, pushing away from Iruka and running a hand experimentally over his ribs, wincing as he went. "Pretty sure my ribs aren't completely healed. Though I think I prefer that to anything else they could have done."

"Let's have a look," Iruka mumbled, reaching out and gently lifting the blond's shirt. He carefully ran his fingers over the impressive and ugly bruise that bloomed across the boy's side, eyes narrowing. "I wish it did, but this doesn't prove anything - other than they're violent and they want to know who works for the KMP. You're right, by the way. Your ribs aren't completely healed yet. But they're further along than they should be after only a week."

"I've always healed really quickly. My mum used to say my guardian angel really hated seeing me in pain, but I don't think I believe in those kinds of things."

Iruka nodded, though he wasn't fully listening. "What are you gonna do now?"

"Follow whatever plans Kakashi has for me and try to get enough evidence against as many of them as I can." He sighed, rolling his shirt back down and returning to his previous, somewhat comfortable position. "There's not much else I _can_ do at the moment."

"I guess you're right. Just... Be careful..." Naruto agreed with a sleepy nod of his head, tired even though he had slept most of the day away, snuggled up in Kakashi's arms. "I'll have to pass on the message that you're okay. Go get some rest."

"I can't. Kakashi wats to teach me basic self-defence."

"You know _advanced_ self-defence." The brunette deadpanned, easing himself from his partner and getting to his feet, stretching.

"We both know that. But he doesn't. Let's not forget that he thinks I'm some silly teenager who doesn't know anything about the world and has gotten himself in too deep."

Iruke narrowed his eyes as he gathered a few things together, including his car and house keys. "He doesn't think you're a silly teenager." He growled out, hands clenched in trembling fists at his sides. "He looks at you like he wants to devour you."

Naruto nodded as the man left the room and he stared blankly ahead of him, mind whirling. Unable to admit out loud that maybe, _just maybe_ , he wouldn't mind that at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's hard to concentrate with 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit?' as "background noise" -.-'


	11. Chapter Ten

On the one hand, Naruto was almost glad that his still-healing ribs made him fumble around the gym like some complete novice. It certainly made him _look_ the part that he needed to play so he had no complaints there. On the other hand, he was _so fucking bored_ of being pinned to the mats by an even more pissed off than usual Sasuke. If anything, this would only slow his healing rate down and he would have to spend longer pretending to be a noob at this.

The mere thought irritated him more than he could accurately describe.

"Is any of this getting through that thick skull of yours, loser?" Sasuke sneered as he got gracefully to his feet, once more leaving Naruto as the undignified heap at his feet. "You realise this is _basics_ we're working on? A five-year-old could do this better than you."

Naruto snarled at the raven as he scrambled to his feet in the most unsightly of ways, before shooting (yet another) curious glance at the fourth member of their party. Kakashi and Sasuke had been in the middle of a demonstration - with Sasuke playing victim - when the man with a strange, orange mask covering his face had strolled in, unannounced and (as far as Sasuke was concerned) uninvited. The raven - who had been on the verge of beating Kakashi in their demonstration - had been completely thrown off guard with the man's arrival, causing Kakashi to 'kill' him.

Kakashi had held no explanation nor introduction for the man, choosing simply to acknowledge his presence with a nod and continue with their lesson, snapping at Sasuke to 'get a grip' and 'get into position' again. They had demonstrated the move again - a simple move that most anyone could use to escape from their would-be attacker - and Sasuke had been so flustered that he had 'died' again. It was only on the next two attempts that he successfully evaded Kakashi. The silver-haired man had then instructed Sasuke to 'attack' Naruto while the blond tried to escape.

So far, Naruto had been unable to escape from Sasuke and had lost count of how many times he'd 'died' at the ravens' hands. Though he totally blamed his ribs for that and he wouldn't hear a word against his argument.

"Hey, Sasuke," he muttered, rubbing his hands carefully over his sore ribs. "Who is that?"

"You don't get to ask me any questions." The raven snapped, grabbing Naruto by the shoulders and spinning him around. He pushed the blond away from him. "Try again, dickwad."

This time, the blond decided to make it look like he was learning _something_ , so he stumbled clumsily through the move and successfully 'escaped' from Sasuke's clutches. He grinned at the raven who shot him a quick glare in return, jumping at him and making quick work of tackling him to the ground and pinning him down, face first with his arms behind his back.

"You're not supposed to _grin_ at your attacker." He growled in Naruto's ear, tightening his grip and making the blond hiss. "You're supposed to _run the fuck away_ once you're free, prick."

"Sasuke," Kakashi called, snapping the raven back to himself. He glared pointedly at the raven and Sasuke looked away, scowling at the floor. "Jamie. You two take a quick break. We'll be back shortly."

Sasuke left without a word, grabbing his bag and flinging it over his shoulder, storming through the door without acknowledging either Kakashi or the newcomer. Naruto mimicked him almost perfectly, flinging his bag over his shoulder and running after the raven. However, the feeling of being watched washed over him and he couldn't stop himself from glancing back at the strange, unknown man whose eyes he couldn't see but could feel. He shuddered unpleasantly and barged through the door.

"Sasuke!" He shouted, breathless as he caught up with the other boy.

"What do you want?"

"Are you really gonna be a dick to me now?"

The raven span on his heel, shoving Naruto hard and making him stumble. "You've been fucking my brother who just happens to work for the KMP and you expect me to trust you?"

"Didn't I _prove_ I was telling the truth when I came back with busted ribs? For fuck's sake, that fish freak put me through the ringer, don't I deserve some fucking answers?"

Sasuke paused, hand raised as though he were about to hit Naruto again. "Wait, you had to deal with Kisame?" The blond nodded. "Shit. Fuck that. I know what he's like. Fucking psycho and that's putting it nicely." He glanced over at the blond with a sigh. "I still don't trust you. I'm still waiting for you to fuck us over. So, you can ask me whatever you want but I'm not telling you anything. Want some answers? Talk to lover boy."

Sasuke turned his back on the blond once more and slipped into his car, pulling quickly from the car park, his tyres screeching against the tarmac. Naruto huffed a deep sigh and sat on the curb, pulling his cigarettes from his bag and lighting one with a scowl.

As he sat slumped on the curb, he realised this had been the first time seeing and spending time with Sasuke since the party the other night. He had already realised that now Sasuke didn't trust him, he would have to be _a lot_ more careful around him, but he wondered how far that mistrust had spread. Right before everything had happened with Itachi, Sasuke and Kiba had had an argument; has the two made good in light of what had happened? If they had, did Kiba want to pummel him, too? And what about Madara? The head of the Akatsuki? Or even the masked man in the gym?

If he were honest, Madara already terrified him. The man had an aura about him that whispered danger to anyone who crossed him and Naruto shuddered at the _thought_ of the older Uchiha hunting him down.

As for the strange, masked man... well, he creeped Naruto out already and they hadn't even been introduced. Maybe it was something about being unable to see the mans eyes as they followed him, but the vibe from the man alone was enough to send shivers down Naruto's spine.

He had realised, of course, that the man behind the mask could be the ever elusive head of the Akatsuki - leader of the gang, big man on campus, head honcho, big, bad boss man. _Of course_ he had thought of that. He would have to be an idiot to not even entertain the idea.

But...

Though his eyes followed Naruto through the gym and through his lessons, and though the inability to _see_ those eyes that watched him, and even though the man's presence creeped him out... he didn't feel threatened. At all.

It felt more like he was standing next to Obito.

After the trip to Alconbury Western and back, and with the way Kakashi had ordered Kisame around, he was even more convinced that it was Kakashi running the show. 

Something about that made Naruto's stomach twist.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Kakashi and the masked man leaving the gym through the back door and have a final, muttered conversation. Neither of them had noticed the blond yet, so he sat very still and watched the exchange very carefully. After a few moments, the masked man bowed to Kakashi and they shook hands, the man taking his leave quickly afterwards. Kakashi watched the mans retreating form for a few moments before spinning and heading back into the gym.

Something about the whole exchange seemed not quite right and he let his mind race as he sat on the curb, forgetting all about his 'lesson' in the gym. It was until someone sat down next to him that he realised he'd been outside for much longer than a "quick break" and he glanced over to see Kakashi giving him a curious smile.

"I wondered where you'd gotten to." He admitted, casually roiling a joint. "Thought you and Sasuke had run off together. Where is he, anyway?"

Naruto shrugged. "Couldn't run away with him even if I wanted too. He hates me. He left a little while ago, sorry. I know you're trying to help me out."

"It's fine." The older man muttered, sticking the joint between his teeth. He lit it with one hand, simultaneously reaching over and wrapping his other around Naruto's waist, pulling him close. He took a deep drag, letting the smoke spill from his nose before leaning down and pressing his lips to the blond's neck. "But enough about that," he muttered between featherlight kisses. "You know sitting on the cold, wet ground is bad for you, right? Why don't we go back to my place for a bit?"

Naruto hummed his agreement, tilting his head to the side and giving Kakashi more room to work on his neck. "S-sounds good."

"Hmm, it does, doesn't it?" Kakashi pulled away then, taking a few quick puffs from his joint. He rubbed his thumb across Naruto's hip. The blond shuddered, unconsciously pressing his body closer to that of his neighbours, savouring that warmth. "You know what tomorrow is, don't you?"

Naruto shook his head, thoughts tragically and rapidly slowing down as Kakashi's thumb continued its soft ministrations and lips found their way back to his neck. God, he could get used to this. He _shouldn't_ , but he _could_.

Kakashi smirked against his neck, flicking the finished joint away carelessly before returning his lips to their work. "It's Christmas. Did you get me a present?"

"I did, actually." He took a deep breath through his nose, forcing himself to calm down some.

Kakashi made a surprised noise in the back of his throat, having only been teasing the blond, and he raised his eyebrows. "You did?" Naruto nodded his affirmation and Kakashi's thumb stopped its soothing magic on his hip. "What did you get me?"

Naruto scoffed, pushing himself to his feet, body already missing the warmth Kakashi's provided. _Fuck_ , he shouldn't let it get to him like this. "You'll have to wait for tomorrow to find out."

Kakashi pouted - _actually_ pouted - and stood alongside the blond, pulling him close again. "No clues?"

Naruto shook his head, reaching into his neighbours pocket to retrieve his car keys. "No clues. Can I drive?"

The moment broken, Kakashi huffed a soft laugh, shaking his head at the blond and snatching the keys from his fingers. "No. But if you're good, I'll let you ride me later."

The blond flushed, gaping at the silver-haired man as he sauntered across the car park and slid gracefully into the driver's seat. He followed on shaking legs - and really, they _shouldn't_ have been shaking because that suggestion wasn't appealing in any way, shape or form - and climbed into the car beside the older man. Kakashi threw him a smirk and started the engine, pulling out of the car park in a very similar fashion to Sasuke.

**\----X----**

The following morning, Naruto blushed like a school girl as he handed Kakashi the carefully wrapped present, waiting with bated breath for his neighbours' reaction. The necklace, one he had found Christmas shopping with Iruka, for some reason reminded him of Kakashi. The sleek design of red and silver swirled together had an edge about it that was so predominantly _Kakashi_ that Naruto had been unable to resist buying it. Though until four days ago he didn't think he would _actually_ have the nerve to give it to the man.

Kakashi pulled Naruto out of his thoughts by _dragging_ him onto his lap and demanding he help put it on.

"So... you like it?" Naruto asked nervously as he reached behind Kakashi's neck and clipped the necklace in place. The smile Kakashi graced him with in return made his knees weak and made his heart do a strange sort of... _floop_ in his chest.

"I love it." He muttered, pressing his lips to Naruto's in a chaste kiss that left the blond tingling in places that shouldn't tingle. "Now, should I give you yours or not? Hmmm..."

Naruto snorted - deciding not to admit, even to _himself_ , that he was enjoying himself seated on Kakashi's lap on Christmas morning. Instead, he squirmed and pushed himself from Kakashi's lap, sauntering into the kitchen. "You don't have to." He called over his shoulder. "Not like you could top the necklace, obviously."

Kakashi was behind him before he really knew what was going on and the older man pinned him to the kitchen counter with his hips, fingers gently gripping a wrist and Naruto's chin. Kakashi smirked, leaning down and running his tongue over the shell of the blond's ear, making Naruto shudder against him. "The only thing I'll be topping is you."

Naruto's stomach did a flip and he leant back into that embrace. "We can't..." he breathed, heat pooling in his gut when he felt Kakashi's erection pressing against him. "My ribs..."

Kakashi growled and bit down on his earlobe gently. A strangled sound escaped Naruto's throat and he arched his body to press into the one at his back. Kakashi spun Naruto slowly around to face him and captured his lips in one of those _damned searing_ kisses. His knees shook as he melted against Kakashi's body, arms wrapping around the older man's neck to keep himself upright.

"The things I wanna do to you..." Kakashi growled, hands running carefully down the blonds sides. He reached lower, wrapping strong fingers around Naruto's thighs and lifting him easily from the ground. Naruto squeaked - _squeaked_ \- and tightened his grip, fingers twisting into silver tresses as Kakashi's lips returned to his and he was carried into the bedroom.

He carefully placed the blond on the bed, leaning over him and pressing soft butterfly kisses down the tanned throat as fingers slipped under Naruto's shirt, thumb running gentle patterns into the warm skin of his stomach. The blond moaned softly, untangling his fingers from his neighbour's hair and reaching up to bite at his hands, cutting off his own pants and moans. He felt Kakashi smirk against his neck before those magical hands slid back down his body and slipped his sleep-shorts off his hips with practised ease.

Deft fingers wrapped around him and he choked on a moan, his mind spinning back to the amazing blow-job the other day and anticipation thrummed under his skin. The older man shifted and Naruto closed his eyes, dropping his head further back into the pillows. Kakashi grinned down at the blond, pressing their erections together and wrapping a hand around the both of them, thumb teasing Naruto's slit and rubbing pre-cum over both of them. Naruto hissed at the sensation, reaching up to pull his neighbour (or would it be lover, now?) into a sloppy kiss. Kakashi's hand started moving over the both of them and -.

Kakashi's phone blared loudly from the table beside them. The older man practically ripped his mouth from Naruto's, glaring at the device.

"Fuck!" He snarled, reaching over to grab it. Naruto's hand caught his wrist.

"D-don't answer it..." he breathed, pulling the man's hand back to the bad and lacing their fingers together on the mattress. Kakashi sighed, dropping his head to the blond's shoulder and giving them a squeeze with his other hand, making the blond gasp.

"I have to..." he squeezed again, grunting softly into Naruto's shoulder and releasing his fingers, reaching out once more to blindly grab at his phone. He leant away, still holding them both in one hand, and pressed the phone to his ear. "What?" He barked. "So? I'm always late. That's never bothered you before... I know I did... I'm in the middle of something here..." he scoffed, grinning down at the blond and giving a quick twist of his wrist.

Naruto moaned loudly, pressing his hips up into Kakashi's hand unconsciously and covering his mouth with his own hands, flushing brightly. Kakashi grinned at him and twisted his wrist again, starting a slow, steady rhythm between them.

"See? Very busy... Yes, I'll be there... Oh, definitely..." he added, leaning down and pressing his lips to Naruto's quickly. "Every last detail."

He hung up then, flinging his phone somewhere unknown behind him and latching onto Naruto's neck. He pumped their cocks together, humming against the blond's neck as Naruto groaned and gripped at his shoulders, blunt nails digging into the skin.

"D-don't you... fucking d-dare..." Naruto gasped out, bucking up into that glorious hand. "I w-won't for-forgive you... hah... if you s-say anything... _fuck_..."

Kakashi didn't say a word, continuing, instead, to lavish Naruto's neck with small kisses, nips and sucks, relishing in every moan and gasp that escaped kiss-plumped lips. He knew the blond was close when fingernails bit deeper into his shoulders and felt the familiar, warm cool tighten in his gut. He dropped his head to Naruto's shoulder again, increasing the speed of his hand between their bodies, and panted softly into the blond's ear, breaking the last of Naruto's resolve. The blond came with a shout, pressing his hips up into that hand and shuddering through his climax, Kakashi's name tumbling from his lips. The sound of his name in his ear sent Kakashi careening over the edge to join him, biting down hard on the blond's shoulder as he rode out his orgasm. 

They laid there a while, neither moving or saying anything until Kakashi shifted, reaching blindly for the ground and the towel lying there. Soothing the bite on Naruto's shoulder with his tongue, he wiped their stomachs clean and moved to the blond's lips. Naruto sighed into the kiss, snuggling into the pillows when Kakashi pulled away, eyes heavy.

"I gotta go." The older man mumbled after a while, running the backs of his fingers down Naruto's cheek. "I'll be back in a few hours."

"Do you _have_ to go, though?" The blond mumbled, half asleep and way too comfortable to be legal. "Who was that, anyway?"

Kakashi seemed to hesitate and that alone peeked the blonds interest. Blearily, he opened his eyes, watching as the older man rummaged through his wardrobe. He kept his back to the blond as he pulled his two-piece suit on.

"Kakashi?"

"Seven." He muttered at last, turning as he pulled the jacket on and slipped the tie around his neck, making quick work of securing it into place. "You met him yesterday."

"Your boss?"

Though he averted his eyes, Kakashi inclined his head slightly and that was all Naruto needed. Now he had an idea of what he was dealing with, knew that his suspicions of the man yesterday were right. He had a mask and a name, well almost. He was one step closer.

_But_...

Something still didn't feel right...

The man yesterday, _Seven_ , creeped him out, sure, but that was it. It wasn't an 'oh my god, I'm gonna die' vibe that he got from the man. More of a 'creepy uncle at your sisters' wedding, sitting in the corner and no one wants to talk to him' vibe. It just didn't... feel right. Like a secret that he could see that answer to, but it was just out of reach.

Kakashi broke him from his thoughts.

"I'm sorry I have to leave you so suddenly." He muttered, sounding genuinely apologetic as he leant in for a kiss.

"Can't I go, too?"

"You're not in love with me already, are you?" He teased, leaning over the blond with a grin. "I haven't left yet so you can't miss me so soon."

"F-fuck off..." Naruto muttered, face crimson even as Kakashi's teasing grin slipped in a soft, genuine smile that made his heart flutter. Without thinking, he reached up and pulled the older man down for a sweet kiss. Kakashi groaned.   
  
"Please don't do this now. I really do have to go." Forcing himself to straighten up, he pulled away completely and strode quickly to the bedroom door. He paused there, hand on the frame and not looking back as he spoke. "I'll probably be out of town for a few days soon. I'll need you to cover at the shop for me, that cool?"

Naruto frowned at his change in demeanour. "Sure. Everything okay?"

"Absolutely." Kakashi said, leaving without another word.

Naruto waited until he heard the door shut behind his neighbour and the car engine revved up in the distance before he climbed off the bed and got dressed for the day. He wanted, almost desperately, to talk to Iruka about this new information and get the mans opinion on it. He wanted to talk to Sakura and see what she knew about _Seven_ , if anything. 

More than anything, he wanted to stop his heart from pounding every time Kakashi smiled at him the way he did today. 


	12. Chapter Eleven

The next time Naruto and Kakashi met was three days after Christmas. Naruto was spread across his bed, console controller in one hand and the other tugging furiously at his hair. An unlit cigarette hung limply from his lips and he was scowling at his screen when there was a light tapping at his door. It opened before he could answer and Kakashi slipped into the room, an ever wary Iruka hovering awkwardly behind him. Naruto frowned and paused his game.

"Hey," Kakashi mumbled, a sweet smile tugging at his lips before he cast an annoyed look over his shoulder at the other Agent. "Can I talk to you? _Alone_?"

Naruto shook himself. He'd barely registered anything the silver-haired man had said; he'd been too busy admiring the suit he was wearing. "U-uh... yeah. Dad, give us a minute."

Iruka scowled, glaring daggers into the back of their neighbours head before heaving a sigh. He nodded curtly once, shot Kakashi another hard glare and retreated from the room, closing the door behind him with a snap. Kakashi huffed out a soft, relieved sigh of his own, leaning back against the pale painted door and folding his arms over his chest.   
  
"Man, he likes to hover. Hasn't left me alone for a second since I got here. I'd hate to know what you've been telling him about me."

Naruto couldn't care less about what Kakashi was saying. He'd returned his attention to that stunning suit and how perfectly it fit the older man. Almost like a second skin. And to top it all off, he was wearing the necklace Naruto had bought him, letting it hang comfortably over a red and silver tie that matched it perfectly. Kakashi smirked, pushing himself from the door and brushing away nonexistent dust from his suit.

"See something you like, Jamie?" He asked, tone dangerously low. Naruto scoffed, shaking himself from his thoughts once more to narrow his eyes at the older man, taking the cigarette from his lips and chucking it on the bedside table, the desire to go and smoke it long gone. 

"As if. I was just thinking you look every bit the part of a mafia boss in that suit."

Kakashi laughed and the sound sent butterflies racing in the pit of Naruto's stomach.

"Well, I _am_ about to leave for a few meetings." He shrugged noncommittally and stalked over to the blond, quickly pinning him to the bed. "Figured I'd better make a good impression from the start."

Naruto swallowed audibly, taking his eyes over the body above him and _fuck_ this wasn't meant to seriously turn him on. This was _only_ supposed to be a ruse to break this organisation down. And why _the fuck_ were butterflies still dancing in his gut?

"Yo-you look good." He stuttered with a blush and Kakashi grinned down at him, swooping in for a chaste kiss that left Naruto inexplicably wanting more.

"Glad I have your approval." He muttered, their lips a hairsbreadth away. "And I would love to ravish you right now, but I've come to ask a favour."

"O-oh?"

"Yeah," Kakashi dragged out the word and sighed, pushing himself upright and straddling the blond's hips. "I hate to be a pain, but I need you to cover at the game shop for about a week. The hotels gonna be closed and Sakura won't have any staff. D'you mind?"

All thoughts of what may be laying in wait under that suit vanished and the butterflies danced to a different tune now. A whole week? Just him and Sakura? _Holy shit_! This was perfect! He couldn't have asked for a better opportunity.

"Yeah, that's fine." He muttered, trying to play it cool as he leant up on his elbows. "I think Obito mentioned something about this yesterday but I wasn't paying attention." He lied, absentmindedly reaching up to fix that tie.

"You are a lifesaver," Kakashi mumbled, leaning down and pressing another kiss to those tempting lips, this one less innocent than the last. "I'll treat you to dinner when I get back, how does that sound?"

"A romantic, candlelit dinner, just the two of us?" Naruto laughed, rolling his eyes playfully. "What more could a guy want?"

"I said nothing about candlelight," the older man joked, leaning in and giving the blond a smouldering look that made the butterflies erupt in his stomach once more. "But if that's what you want, I'm sure I can accommodate you."

With a final kiss, just a brushing of their lips together, Kakashi pulled away and got to his feet, straightening his jacket and tie before crossing the room. He paused at the door, hesitating almost, and glanced over his shoulder at the blond. There was something almost guilty about the look he shot Naruto but it was fleeting, brief, and the blond thought he'd imagined it.

"See you in a week!"

Naruto watched the older man leave, the door clicking softly shut behind him, and he flopped gracelessly back onto his bed, mind buzzing. He couldn't decide if this was a blessing or a curse. He would have a _whole week_ with Sakura to go over what they knew so far. But at the same time, they would have to be careful. If the KMP got too close too soon, they're cover would likely be blown. And Obito had mentioned that his wife would still have to pop into the shop from time to time, so they wouldn't be _completely_ alone. 

They couldn't afford to be reckless.

**\----X----**

Naruto hadn't expected to be well and truly _glomped_ when he arrived at the shop the next morning and it took all his effort to remain upright as his long-time, pink-haired friend threw her arms around him.

"You're a lifesaver." She squealed in his ear, tightening her hold on him. "A real gem. Thank you _so_ much, Jamie."

Then she pulled away, eyes roaming their surroundings thoroughly before she pulled him back into the embrace, her voice softer now than before.

"It's so good to see you again, Naruto." She muttered and he finally returned the hug with a small smile. "It's literally unbearable here. Seriously." She huffed an annoyed laugh and pulled away again, folding her arms over her chest and popping her hip out. "Christmas day? Sasuke and Kiba _actually_ started a fist fight because Kiba stole the last of the chicken. _Who does that_?"

Naruto laughed loudly at that, pulling his cigarettes from his pocket and quickly lighting one. "Actually, me and dad did that, too. Boxing day, though, because I spent Christmas with Kakashi."

"You're dad's here?" She asked, eying his cigarette angrily before reaching out and snatching it from his fingers. She dropped it to the floor as he squawked and stopped it out with her heal. "And you can stop _that_ right now. Why did you even pick that up again? I swear, I kind of wish they hadn't recalled Neji."

Naruto froze, halfway through the motions of lighting a new cigarette, much to the pinkette's chagrin. "They didn't recall Neji." He said quietly, blue eyes cast down. "They didn't tell you?"

"What? Of course they did. What else could have happened?"

"S-Sakura..." Naruto breathed, pulling her in for another hug, if only to hide his own tears before she could unleash her own. "Neji was killed."

The pinkette pushed him away with a fierce glare and a reprimand ready on her lips. How _dare_ he joke about something like that. But the look in his eyes gave her pause and she bit her lip. " _What_?" She squeaked, backing up a few steps, shaking her head in disbelief.

"I'm sorry you have to hear it from me." Naruto muttered, keeping his eyes from her and lighting that second cigarette with shaking fingers, taking a long, deep drag from it. "Someone found out about him. I don't know the full details but... we received Neji's hand in the post about a week before I graduated."

Sakura choked back her own sob, stumbling as she backed further away from him and landing hard on her backside. Her hands covered her face and muffled her words. "No," she sobbed, shaking her head. "I don't... Who could have..."

"I don't know." His voice was calmer than he felt and he moved closer to her, taking a seat on the cold ground next to her. "I'm sorry." He said again, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and pulling her close.

They sat in silence for what felt like a very long time, but couldn't have been longer than five minutes. Then, taking a deep, shuddering breath, Sakura shrugged his arm from her shoulder and pushed herself to her feet, wiping her jeans down and running shaking fingers through her hair. "Well." She said eventually, arms folding across her chest once more as she glared down at him. "Then I guess we have even more motivation to get the bastards, right?"

Giving her a weak smile, Naruto nodded. "Right. So, what have you learnt so far?"

The girl scoffed and reached a hand down to pull him to his feet. "Practically nothing. And it's not for a lack of trying, believe me."

And Naruto did, because this was Sakura and she was smart and intuitive and cunning, and he'd never seen her come up against anything she couldn't work her way around.

"But, these arseholes just don't let anything up. It took me _weeks_ to get close to Sasuke. And even now I'm pretty sure he doesn't fully trust me." She sighed heavily, running a hand through her hair again. "The most I've found is that the VIP membership for this place? Comes with some very interesting perks."

"Oh?"

"Hmmm," she hummed, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "I still haven't figured out how they get this shit into the country, much less how they're picking and choosing who gets what."

"You _must_ have seen that membership form, though? It's not like they'll let every Tom, Dick and Harry get in. It's pretty personal." He shot her a pointed stare. "I mean, seriously? A credit check? Do you have _any idea_ how difficult that was to fake?"

She laughed softly. "Actually, I do. How do you think I passed mine?" She checked her watch and frowned, huffing a sigh. "We should probably get to it." She muttered, jerking her head in the direction of the door behind the blond. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you we keep these conversations out here. Rin should still be with Obito at the moment, but I have no idea when she'll be popping her head in."

Naruto nodded and followed his friend inside, shutting the door behind him with a loud bang. He sighed; this was going to be a long week, and it wasn't even the prospect of a 'normal' job that sounded exhausting. He was itching to talk to his friend properly about this, but right now, with the shop due to open and the security cameras watching his every move, he could do nothing but follow her instructions as she ran the shop flawlessly in their bosses absence.

_Soon_. He told himself, straightening a display some kid had barrelled into. _We'll be able to talk properly, soon_.

**\----X----**

_Soon_ turned out to be the following night, as luck would have it. The previous day, Rin had shown up - just as promised - about twenty minutes before closing. She was a very nice woman, Naruto had decided instantly that he liked her, connections to Akastuki aside. She always seemed to have a smile on her face and bounded around the stock room with a smile on her face as she helped count the stock, trashy dance music blasting through her headphones.

After the shop had closed, she had dismissed him with a beaming grin and telling him that she and Sakura could handle the rest. He'd hesitated briefly but had, ultimately, decided not to argue. He'd get some sleep and try to find a chance to talk to Sakura again the next day. So, after a very busy day spent mostly cleaning up behind their messy and almost inconsiderate customers, he'd asked Sakura - as casually as he possibly could - if she wanted to grab a drink after they closed.

Rin hadn't turned up at all that day, to which both agents were eternally thankful, so they deemed their combined departure to be relatively safe and crossed the town giggling together.

"So." Sakura started as they sat at a table in the back of the bar. "I'm going to be a gossip first." Naruto raised a brow at her and she almost choked on her drink as she laughed. "I'm not even sorry. I've missed out on a lot by being here. Tell me, tell me. How's Itachi?"

Naruto paused with his drink halfway to his mouth, stomach plummeting somewhat. "Uh, we're on a temporary break."

"Oh, honey, how come?"

"Kakashi."

"Shit," she muttered, resting her hand over his and giving his fingers a gentle squeeze. "What happened?"

"For starters, Itachi was an idiot."

This time Sakura really _did_ choke on her drink, spluttering around it and spraying the blond with it. "Sorry," she choked out, not really sounding all the apologetic. She spared a second to check around them and make sure no one was watching, but the action was quick and she turned back to her friend. "But this is Itachi Uchiha we're talking about, right? Top of his class, top in his field, all jobs done in half the time, Itachi Uchiha?"

Naruto scoffed lightly, wiping his face with a napkin as his stomach clenched unpleasantly. "The very same."

"What the hell did he do?"

Naruto shrugged. "It's partly my fault for suggesting it in the first place," he admitted. He couldn't let the raven take _all_ the blame, seeing as how he'd made Itachi change his name in his phone and all but told him there would be texts he would have to respond to. "I guess _I_ was being an idiot, too. Made him change his name in my phone and said I was going to text him." He shrugged again, almost sulking as he watched the bubbles in his drink. "Then it wasn't just texting. Then he called me when Sasuke was around. And, of course, the dickhead had to answer my phone."

Sakura stared at him, mouth wide and eyes disbelieving. "Moron," she muttered into her drink, taking a big gulp. "I mean, really? And Itachi went along with it?"

Naruto shrugged again, finishing his drink quickly. "I dunno. I guess because it's my first job and we don't know how long we're gonna be here..." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Stupid, I know."

"Very." She muttered and Naruto threw her a glare, storming to the bar for more drinks. But, of course, she was right. It was a _really_ stupid idea and it had already bitten him in the arse. He could only hope that that would be it and it wouldn't happen again. With a resigned sigh, he grabbed their new drinks, only vaguely remembering that he'd managed to order, and took them back to their table.

"Can we get back on track and forget about my idiotic tendencies for a little while? I promise you can rub them in my face after we get wrapped up here."

Sakura gave him a small, apologetic smile and sipped cautiously at her drink, gazing around the bar. From their corner, they could see all the patrons, including the new ones coming in after work and the older ones stumbling out after one too many. There was no one at the table behind them and the television was showing a football match that had almost all the patrons hooked.

"Fine," she muttered at last, shooting him a grin. "But you know I won't let you live that one down."

"Yeah, yeah. I know." He nudged her shin playfully with his foot and took a large gulp of his drink, watching her carefully over the rim of the glass. "So. What do you know?"


	13. Chapter Twelve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please excuse any sloppy editing and spelling/grammar errors in this chapter. I'm doing it on my phone and Grammarly won't log me in qq
> 
> Also, I'm pretty sure I used the wrong word a some point. If ya know which one and if I was wrong, please let me know *surrenders*
> 
> Anyways, the fun's just about to begin!
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> S x

Though Sakura was quietly insecure about her lack of information, Naruto _thrived_  on what he had been given. The list of names he'd been given was like a fantastic treasure haul for him; he'd met all but two of these people at Kakashi's party and these were people that Sakura _knew_  were involved. Naruto was all but itching to get home and start adding sketches to his growing file. The second, shorter list of names were people that Sakura had met a few times and wasn't yet sure if they were involved or even knew about the Akatsuki. One name in particular jumped out at him from this second list; Ino Yamanaka. She was a sweet, gossip-loving girl and he would be extremely surprised if she knew anything. She seemed too loose-lipped to be trusted with any sort of secret, though Naruto knew looks could be deceiving.

Sakura went into a little bit of detail, telling him what she knew of their roles within the organisation. She couldn't tell him much, Sasuke still didn't trust her enough to fully let her in, but she had managed to have some rather interesting conversations with Kiba when he'd had one too many.

"Jugo, you wouldn't have met." She muttered, poking the name with a manicured finger almost harshly. "I've only met him a handful of times. He's strange. It's almost like he's too nice." She shuddered, looking back over the crowded bar. "There was an... incident not long after I got with Sasuke. Jugo's brutal if he doesn't trust you. If you ever do meet him, be very careful what you say around him. I wouldn't put it passed him to beat the snot out of you."

Though her tone was fairly light, they shared a look over the table, both thinking the same thing.

"Neji...?" Naruto whispered, taking a small swig of his drink. It was barely noticeable, but the pink-haired girls nod was there.

"If anyone, I would say it was him." She sighed, looking away from him again. "I wouldn't be surprised if Kiba was involved somehow, too. I hate to admit it, but he scares me."

He didn't laugh at her, didn't have any right to, really. Kiba irritated him at best, wound him up at worst, but he couldn't say he was particularly _scared_  of the wild looking man. Sasuke, however, was a different story. Sasuke was quiet, calculating, and knew Naruto wasn't quite telling the truth. It was motivation enough for the dark-haired man to do a little more digging and that itself was more terrifying that Naruto thought possible.

"What about this one?" He asked, changing the subject quickly and effectively, jabbing the paper with his finger. "Oro...?"

"Orochimaru is a freak." Naruto blinked at his friends hostility. She sighed, gripping her arm as if she were suddenly cold. "He likes running experiments, likes to see if he can make things more potent. If he can - and he has succeeded several times - it more than triples the value. As you can imagine, our magnanimous boss _loves_ that. You've probably seen him around, though you wouldn't have been introduced. He keeps himself locked in the back room at the shop. And he would have looked into you the moment you took one of those applications, if not before."

He ran his fingers through his hair and released an almost frustrated sigh. "Anything else?"

She eyed him carefully and put her drink cautiously back down on the table between them. "There's one more thing." She muttered eventually. "I've only been able to get an alias for their boss."

He nodded almost sagely, crossing his arms over his chest. "Seven."

She frowned. "How did you know that?"

"Kakashi told me." Sakura raised a disbelieving eyebrow at him. "Mostly. I had to wriggle it out of him a little. But I met him. Sort of." He frowned. "I wasn't introduced or anything and he didn't speak to me. Just watched me when Sasuke and Kakashi were giving me defence lessons a while back."

"Defence lessons?" He nodded and she snorted. "You realise you-."

"Yes. Thank you. I know." He snapped but there was no malice in his tone. "Iruka said the same thing."

Her eyes lit up. "'Ruka's here?" She gasped, clapping her hands childishly in front of her. Naruto frowned and nodded. "Ohhh I haven't seen him for years! How is he? How's his wife?"

"He's fine and I didn't know he was married." He paused, taking a quick drink. "How d'you know him?"

"He was the Tactical Lecturer for, like, six months in my first year." She said with a small, wistful sigh. "But one day, Anko-."

Naruto shivered, remembering _that_  lecturer well. "Crazy Anko? She had it in for me from day one, I swear."

"Yeah. She was... strange..." Sakura grinned. "But anyway, she just busts in one day, whispers something to him that we couldn't hear and that was it. He was gone." She shrugged, looking thoughtful. "We figured he'd gone for a job but no one saw him again."

Now that he thought about it, it made sense. Iruka had told him he'd been on a job for a little over five years then had evaluations and time off before getting _this_  job.

"Well then." He muttered. "Hopefully we can get this wrapped up quickly and you two can have a nice long catch up."

Sakura grinned and nodded at him, returning her attention to the surrounding crowd as he left to get more drinks. The crowd was thinning out now that whatever game had finally finished and she sighed heavily. She needed to keep this conversation light until they finished these drinks; while she still couldn't see anyone she knew, she didn't want to chance someone sneaking in while the patrons departed and over hearing their conversation. No. They would leave after this round and maybe get to finish this on the way home. It would be a long walk, but she wouldn't risk being overheard on public transport. And she wanted to know what the blond knew about Seven.

She changed the subject when her friend returned and was glad to see the blond didn't even raise an eyebrow at the flip, keeping their conversation light and they chatted happily away about games and Naruto's life so far in this new town, even touching lightly on relationships, though she knew that topic was still sensitive for him. Naruto, however, took it in his stride and gushed almost happily about his  _thing_ with Kakashi - he couldn't even think about calling it a relationship at this point. Sakura eyed him carefully as he spoke, but he didn't seem to notice as he described the necklace he had bought Kakashi for Christmas.

 _This isn't good_. She thought, pulling a fake smile across her lips as she pretended to be interested. _He's falling for the guy and he doesn't even realise it. I should try to warn Iruka._

**\----X----**

Sasuke glared at his phone as it blared beside him, waking him from his deep sleep. On the other side of the room, Kiba grunted and stirred, throwing his pillow at the sound before snuggling back under the covers. With an annoyed sigh, the raven snatched the phone up and sauntered from the room.

"Why the hell are you still awake?" He snapped.

"A pleasure, as always, to speak to you, too, Sasuke." Came the drawling tone on the other end. Sasuke sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose. Not even ten seconds into the call and he could already feel a headache coming on.

"What. Do you want."

The other person snorted and Sasuke could hear papers shuffling on the other end. "Figured you'd want to know a little more about Kakashi's fancy boy."

Sasuke straightened, gripping the phone tighter. "So I was right? He works there?"

"Hmm. I'm not sure, if I'm honest."

"Then why the hell did you wake me up?"

"Don't get your boxers in a twist." The other man snapped and Sasuke could practically feel the glare the other aimed at him. "I didn't say I was completely out of luck. Just that I'm not sure whose payroll he's on."

Sasuke took a deep breath to calm his suddenly jumbled nerves. "Okay." He mumbled slowly. "Could you please tell me what you _have_  found?"

"Ohhh, careful Sasuke. That one sounded painful."

"Shikamaru!"

The other man laughed. "Okay. Jeez. So, I did find something. I hacked into their database and used the names you gave me. I can tell you now, there's no Jamie Dawson or Iruka Dawson on their personal files. Though, I'm sure Orochimaru already told you this."

Sasuke grunted his agreement; Shikamaru was a lazy piece of shit who didn't do his job unless he was properly nagged or motivated. So they usually used Orochimaru, who was always so eager to pry Ito other people's lives. He was good at it, but Shikamaru was better. It had taken three weeks, but Sasuke had finally convinced is friend to get off his arse and actually _do_ something for a change. Of course, a little extra motivation never hurt and he'd told the lazy whelp about his brother.

"I'm guessing he gave up after a brief internet search that gave you this shit," Sasuke heard the other sigh and slap his hand on some papers beside him. "Jamie Dawson, nineteen, unpopular at school so no friends I could look into, but a good study. Teachers were difficult to track down and useless once I found them. So a no-go there. Pretty much the same for Iruka Dawson. Nothing on the wife or the divorce, which is strange. I couldn't even find a name for her, which means it was a _very_  bad break or-."

"She doesn't exist in the first place."

Shikamaru hummed. "Well, after the names came up empty, I input the descriptions you gave me. And here's we're it gets interesting."

"Oh?"

"Nothing on the dad. Straight up. No one who looks like Iruka Dawson works there. I checked the academy records and found an 'Iruka Umino' but there wasn't a lot there. No parents or family to speak of. No picture or description."

"Hmm." The raven agreed. "That is interesting. Iruka isn't a very common name."

"That's what I thought, but even a simple internet search came up empty for him. So. Jamie. Blond hair, blue eyes. 5"6'?"

"Yup."

"I got a match."

Sasuke felt his breath catch. "Are you serious?"

"Yes. But like I said. It's interesting."

"Go on?"

He heard Shikamaru take a deep breath before speaking quickly. "Naruto Uzumaki. Father; Minato Namikaze. Mother; Kushina Uzumaki. Good student, though there's not a lot about friends and I haven't found out where he went to school yet. Here's the fun bit; his mum was driving him to a cinema party when he was five and - I quote - got distracted behind the wheel. _She_ died instantly, the other driver and her two daughters died on the way to the hospital. Naruto was the only survivor." He caught his breath and Sasuke heard him turn a page over. "He suffered from mental health issues after that, apparently blaming himself for the accident but even his therapist at the time couldn't get him to explain why. Mostly they thought it was PTSD and he was treated for that and depression. Until he died. Two years ago. Suicide. He would have been twenty-five this past October."

Sasuke frowned. Jamie's birthday, he had been told, was in July. But he knew that information was easily faked so he held his tongue, asking instead, "Did you find a picture?"

"Only a coroners report and a news article about the accident." Shikamaru sighed.

"Shit." The raven cursed and slid down the wall. "I was so sure..."

"I never said I was finished, Sasuke."

Sitting up straighter, Sasuke moved the phone to the other ear with shaking fingers, questions on the tip of his tongue and he had to bite his lip to hold them back. He heard Shikamaru typing in the background and his phone pinged against his ear.

"I dug into Minato and found an old Myspace profile that hasn't been used in about seventeen years. No Facebook. It took me three days to hack into it, by the way, so you owe me big time. But. There were several pictures of him and his family. I've emailed you the best one I could find."

Shikamaru began typing again and Sasuke used that time to check his emails. The picture loaded slowly and he twitched nervously as he waited. Then, finally, the image buffered properly and there were three people grinning at him from his phone. A blond man, maybe late twenties, eyes closed as he grinned and an arm around his wife. The wife had long, red hair and an equally wide grin though her eyes were open to reveal blue eyes, also in her late twenties. She was throwing a peace sign at the camera and had her other hand resting on a small boy's head. Sasuke sucked in a breath. It was like looking into the past. There, grinning happily at him, was Jamie Dawson, hands braced on the table in front of him that was littered with presents and a birthday cake with five lit candles waiting to be extinguished.

He pressed the phone eagerly back to his ear.

"That's him. I'm almost sure of it."

Shikamaru grunted. "I'll keep digging." He promised. "I'm still trying to get into the Akatsuki file, but I'm pretty sure the old fuck Sarutobi has it on his home computer."

"We need to see that." Sasuke stressed. "That will have all the agents files who are working the case."

"I'm a computer man, Sasuke. I don't do breaking and entering. There's no way I could successfully get in and out without getting caught. And I work reception, I couldn't talk my way in. I've only spoken to the old fart, like twice? Maybe."

"We'll figure something out."

Shikamaru yawned then, the sound alone making Sasuke mimic him. "Whatever. I'm going to sleep."

"Sure." Sasuke paused. "Hey, Shikamaru?"

"What?"

"Thanks."

There was a pause on the other end before, "Jesus Christ, call the tabloids. A please _and_  a thank you in one call? Who are you and what have you done with Sasuke?"

The raven scowled at his phone and hung up.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This.... wasn't supposed to happen. One of my friends was asking how this chapter was coming along - and it wasn't, at first - then when we chatted about something COMPLETELY different, the idea slowly started to form. This wasn't what I had planned AT ALL but then it kinda wrote itself.
> 
> I'm sorry, please don't kill me qq that friend is already giving me the silent treatment for this.....
> 
> S x

The three young men could barely see three foot in front of them, let alone the expansive grounds that lay before them. Rain poured all around them and they each shivered, pulling their balaclavas over their faces and sharing one final look with one another. Then the man in the middle nodded firmly and rushed across the road, vaulting himself almost easily over the high fence. He landed quietly, crouched and glancing around him, listening.

A few moments passed, the only sound breaking the otherwise dead silence was the rain crashing around him, but under it seemed almost quiet under the trees. He waited a while longer, just to be sure, before waving his friends. It was clear.

The other two shared another, wordless look before they, too, rushed across the street. The taller of the three struggled to scale the fence with as much ease as the first and was quietly grateful to the third for his helping hand. Once all three of them were on the grounds, they waited a while longer.

Once the first was sure they'd been successful, he signalled his friends to follow him, leading them through the trees that lined the grounds. They cleared the trees quickly and a long, dark stretched out in front of them.

"Shit, you picked a shitty night to try this, Sasuke."

Sasuke glanced over at his friend with a scowl. "Back out if you want, pussy. But Shikamaru and I are going." Shikamaru sighed defeatedly at his words but didn't argue. "I swear to fuck if you nark, I will _personally_ castrate you and feed it to your dog. Got that, Kiba?"

Kiba grunted and looked away from the others, looking out to what he could see of the perfectly kept lawn.

"I heard your brother likes dick, so if we get caught, guess where yours is going?"

Sasuke growled at him, leaning up and reeling back to punch the wild man, slim fingers wrapping easily around his wrist before he could.

"Would you two shut the fuck up?" Shikamaru's voice was barely above a whisper and he pulled Sasuke close to him, fingers tightening around his wrist. "We have one fucking shot at this and, if it's okay with the two of you, I'd like to get it over and done with." He took a deep breath and glared over at Kiba. "Do as he fucking says so we can get in and go home. And Sasuke, stop whipping your dick out every time he says something you don't like. This is _not_ the time for a pissing contest."

A tense moment passed between them, Kiba and Sasuke glaring daggers at one another before Kiba finally grunted his agreement and looked away. Shikamaru let out a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding and glanced at his other friend. "Sasuke?"

The raven clenched his fists, still scowling at the back of the other man's head, before wrenching his arm free of Shikamaru's grip. "Whatever. Let's go."

He stormed away, not looking back to see if his companions were following him, keeping an eye on what little of his surroundings that he could see. The grounds were still quiet behind the pouring rain and, as he pushed on, the large, dark home loomed before him. Movement to his right made him stop and drop to a crouch and he was vaguely aware of Shikamaru and Kiba mimicking him on either side.

"What is it?" Kiba grunted, moving closer to be heard over the rain and Sasuke nodded towards the security guard making his way around the building. "Should we take him out?"

Shikamaru stiffened but otherwise kept quiet as the other two quickly decided between themselves what to do. They made to move and Shikamaru went to follow them before Sasuke's hand pressed against his chest to stop him. He wasn't going to complain and kept himself as long to the ground as he could, watching the duo stalk their victim until they disappeared into the darkness. 

The minutes ticked slowly by as he waited with bated breath for their return. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he thought he heard someone shouting in the distance and he braced himself, ready to go and help them. But what use was _he_? His job was to keep to the shadows, to strategise, to think their way into something otherwise impossible. If he went, he would only get in their way. He grit his teeth and clenched his fists.

_Hurry up_. He found himself thinking, inching closer to the looming building. _Hurry up_.

Two figures rounded the large home and his breath caught in his throat. It took several tries to swallow past the lump that had formed in his throat and it was only when the two figures were a few feet in front of him that he managed to relax. Kiba watched his companion carefully as Sasuke wiped something from his cheek with his sleeve. Shikamaru swallowed loudly, the lump forming once again when he realised it was _blood_.

"Let's go." Sasuke mumbled, barely audible over the rain, and he turned away, heading back for the large house without looking back to see if the other two were following.

They entered through a side door, removing their shoes and coats and leaving them out in the elements before venturing further into the house. Though the guards had been taken care of, Shikamaru insisted they remain as quiet as possible, on the highly likely chance that there were more security guards somewhere in the house. But the building remained silent as they crept further.

"Upstairs." Sasuke breathed, guessing where the old man's office could be. The other two agreed quickly, following behind him as he led the way upstairs. "Stay close."

But they didn't need to be told twice.

The top step creaked as they reached it and the three paused, wincing at the abnormally loud sound and glancing warily down the halls. It was then that they heard a sound that made their stomachs plummet.

"Konohamaru," came the stern voice from somewhere below them and they scattered, hiding in door jams and behind heavy curtains. "I thought I told you three to go to bed, already?"

A door to Sasuke's right opened and light flooded the hall. The raven held his breath as a boy, no older than ten, wandered onto the landing, rubbing sleepy eyes.

"Wha's goin' on?" He mumbled, meeting the man at the top of the stairs, hooded eyes gazing up. "I _was_ sleeping, Uncle Asuma."

'Uncle Asuma' frowned at his nephew, eyes disbelieving. Two more, small children appeared from the same door, each looking as sleepy as the other. Asuma frowned at them again and looked around the empty hall. He turned, the light from the bedroom catching something shiny at his hip, and he quickly ushered the children back into their room.

"Stay in there." He ordered, his tone erasing all traces of exhaustion from the children. "Don't come out. No matter what you hear. Not until I tell you it's safe, understand me?"

"What's going on, Uncle?" Konohamaru asked, holding a hand out to stop his friends from venturing further into the hall.

"Just do as I say." The older man snapped. "Lock the door behind you and don't come out until I say. Go. Now."

The tone of his uncles' voice left no room for the child to argue and Konohamaru pushed his friends gently back into the room, the door shutting with a soft click behind him.

Asuma stayed put until he heard the lock click into place. He took a deep breath and his hand slipped slowly to the gun at his hip. He turned on the spot, gun held tight between his fingers and he glared down the empty hall.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are." He called, holding the gun in front of him and taking several careful steps down the hall. Sasuke peeked his head around the curtain he hid behind, the man's back facing him, and he caught Shikamaru's wide, terrified eyes. With a hard glare, he shook his head at his friend who looked ready to bolt, unaware of the weapon in the mans grip.

A door further down the hall opened and he glanced at the man, watching him disappear into the room and he hissed softly at his other concealed friend. Kiba looked out of his hiding spot and watched Sasuke signal something to him. The wild man nodded and crept as silently as he could down the hall, passing the room the man had entered. He opened a door and slammed it shut, quickly disappearing into a new hiding spot as the man charged into the hall and through the door he'd slammed.

Sasuke snuck quietly from his own hiding spot, hissing at Shikamaru to head to the opposite end of the hall. Though he was only guessing, Sasuke had a feeling the office they were looking for was down there, and he wanted his computer nerd hidden in that room while he and Kiba dealt with Asuma.

Shikamaru swallowed thickly and gave a quick nod of his head, bolting quietly down the hallway and slipping quickly into the room at the end. The door shut quietly behind him and Sasuke crept across the hall, pulling his lockpick from his pocket and making quick work of the lock before him.

The three children stared, wide-eyed and terrified, at him as he entered the room, locking the door behind him once again with a quick snap of his wrist. Two of the children hid behind their friend whose arms were spread as if trying to hide his friends from view and he had a furious scowl on his face.

"Who are you?" He all but shouted and Sasuke had to fight back the cringe as the noise carried through the room. "What do you want?"

Sasuke bit back a smirk at the kids' boldness but it was short lived when a commotion in the hall echoed through the house. A gunshot rang out, making the children jump and the brat in the middle more defiant, and the raven spared a quick thought for his friends, hoping they were okay. Then he returned his attention to the children.

He was across the room before they could really register what had happened, and had all but thrown Konohamaru onto the bed in the corner. He stepped over the sleeping bags on the floor and grabbed the girl by the throat, kicking the snot-nosed boy away as he tried to come to her aid. Konohamaru froze on the bed as Sasuke brought the girl to his chest, wrapping one arm around her waist and pulled a switch-blade from his pocket with the other, holding it to her neck.

"Tell me, brat," he started calmly, ignoring the sounds of fighting on the landing. He sneered at the defiant boy. "Where's your grandfather's office?"

Konohamaru grit his teeth and snarled at the intruder, eyes shifting quickly to the other boy in the room as the snotty child attempted to come up behind Sasuke and steal the girl away from him. Sasuke acted quickly, grabbing the girls wrist in a tight grip and swinging his body around, landing a well-placed kick to the snotty boy's stomach and sending him across the room.

"Udon!" Konohamaru shouted, racing across the room to his friend's side and helping him to his feet.

"I won't ask again, kid." Sasuke snarled, smirk fierce as he pressed the girl back to his body and the blade to her trembling neck. "Where's your grandfather's office?"

"Will you let her go if I tell you?" The boy cried, desperate now, and Sasuke huffed a small laugh.

"Of course." He bluffed, pressing the blade into her throat again, nicking the skin and a trail of blood trickled down her throat. She whimpered and Konohamaru's fists clenched at his sides.

"Down the end of the hall. Last door, can't miss it. All his case files are in there." He spoke quickly and without hesitation and Sasuke couldn't help but admire his bravery. "Please, let her go."

"I'm looking for one particular file." He told him and the boy frowned. "Akatsuki."

Konohamaru paled and moved further in front of Udon, pressing the bespeckled boy into safety. "I don't know anything about that one."

"Are you sure?" The blade pressed harder against the girl's throat and she openly sobbed now, the line of red against her skin darkening.

"I'm sure! Please! I'm telling the truth!"

Sasuke cocked his head to the side, eyes narrowed. He smirked and huffed another laugh, dragging the blade across the girl's throat, almost revelling in the way the boy's eyes widened. "I don't believe you."

" _Moegi!_ "

The girl crumpled to the floor at his feet and he stepping over her, careful not to step in anything as he closed in on the boys. Konohamaru pressed backwards, forcing his friend to push up against the window, and he trembled at the crazy look in the intruder's eyes as he neared them.

"I'll only ask you one more time." Sasuke mumbled, tone low and dangerous.

Konohamaru couldn't take his eyes off his friend, lying lifeless on the floor, and he was pretty sure Udon had wet himself, if the warmth against his backside was anything to go by. He lifted his eyes to the intruder, glaring at him as he inched closer.

A hand snapped out from Sasuke's side and grabbed Konohamaru by the throat, disregarding the terrified child against the window and he easily lifted the brat from the floor, tightening his grip on the boy's neck.

"Last chance," he hissed, pressing the boy against the window and running his nose almost softly along the boy's cheek. "Where's Akatsuki file?"

"I... d-don't know..."

"Then perhaps you can tell me about someone who works for your grandfather? Hmm?" He muttered, tightening his grip as the boy's hands reached up to claw at his arm. "Blond hair, blue eyes and a big grin. He's about my age."

Konohamaru's eyes widened in recognition and Sasuke grinned. He'd been _right_ all along.

"Y-you mean big brother Naruto?"

" _Udon, no!_ "

Sasuke slammed the boys head against the window with a crack and Konohamaru whimpered as consciousness left him. The raven let the boy fall to the floor as he rounded on the other child, the grin on his face beyond terrifying now. He advanced on the child and Udon began to cry.

"Tell me more, Udon. There's a good boy."

The boy opened his mouth to answer when someone hammered loudly on the door behind them, making the child jump.

"Sasuke, c'mon," came Kiba's voice and Sasuke glared at the wood separating him from his friend. "We got the file. We need to go."

With a sneer, he turned back to the child, watching the colour drain from his face as he spoke. "I'll meet you outside." He told his friend. "Me and Udon here are in the middle of a very interesting conversation."

**\----X----**

Shikamaru was vomiting on the side of the road when Sasuke finally joined his friends, the look on his face unreadable, but the blood splattered across his clothes spoke volumes. Shikamaru rounded on his friend.

" _What the hell did you do?_ " He screamed at the raven, pushing him into the road. " _Why the fuck did you have to go there?_ They were _children_ , Sasuke! Do you even understand what you've done?"

Unphased, Sasuke cocked his head to the side, eyes wild. "Is that a rhetorical question, Shikamaru?" He asked, his voice eerily calm. "I did what I _had_ to do."

Shikamaru blanched, taking a step back from the raven and turning to empty more of his stomach to the ground. He shot a shaky glare at the other when he was sure he had finished, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. "They were _children_." He repeated. "The uncle I can understand. But _kids_?"

Sasuke shrugged. "They heard the commotion. They would have known someone was in the house and, eventually, it would have led back to us."

" _They were fucking kids!_ " The computer whizz roared, aiming a punch to Sasuke's jaw. The raven sidestepped the attack and gripped the wrist as it sped past his face. He span Shikamaru around, pressing his chest to the other mans back.

"Not here, Shikamaru." He muttered and his voice had taken on a terrifying tone that sent shivers down Shikamaru's spine. Sasuke was obsessed. He wouldn't rest until he proved that Jamie was on the KMP's payroll and he didn't care who he had to kill to prove it. "If you have anything to say to me, you can tell me when we're not standing in front of a crime scene."

"A crime scene _you_ created." Shikamaru snapped, pulling himself free from the other man's grip and cross back to Kiba's side. He snatched the bag the wild-looking man was holding and threw it to Sasuke. The raven caught it deftly, without flinching. Shikamaru turned on his heel then, storming away from the other two as the rain began to slow. "There's your fucking information. Don't fucking call me again."


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've just finished this chapter - literally like 10 minutes ago - and I'm still at work. I figured I should make up for the last chapter some how e.e
> 
> But because I'm doing this on my phone - again - please excuse any spelling/grammar mistakes because Grammarly still hates my phone and any sloppy editing because my phone hates me...
> 
> S x

After their week of isolation - minus the occasional appearance of Rin - the rest of their colleagues start flooding back to work, tired and tight-lipped. Some of them, namely Kiba, barely lifted a finger to help out on Naruto's last full day at the store and the blond was finding it increasingly difficult to refrain from punching the other man.

Nerves were so shot that Sakura told him to go home early. He'd almost refused - that would leave Sakura and Kiba alone together and Naruto knew the other man scared his friend - but he pinkette insisted, reassuring him that she would be fine and teasing him that he had a silver-haired neighbour to play with.

Though he hadn't missed the obvious concern that flashed in her eyes.

With a final, heavy sigh, Naruto left. Pulling his hoodie over his head to protect him from the last of the rain from the previous night, the blond wandered slowly through the town to his bus stop, thoughts filled with a certain neighbour and confusion over his own feelings. The butterflies were back in full force and he _knew_ they shouldn't be. Kakashi was his _suspect_ and he _shouldn't_ feel anything for the older man.

But all thoughts of Kakashi were thrust awkwardly from his mind when he stumbled through the - still broken - front door of his temporary home.

"I'm back." He called wearily, making his way through the quite home to find his pretend guardian sat at the kitchen table, a grim look on his face.

"We need to talk." Was all Iruka said before Naruto sat opposite him, butterflies dancing to a different tune now. There was something about the look on his partners face that told him he wasn't going to like what was about to be said.

"What happened?" He asked, fingers twisting around one another in his lap and he looked up at the brunette through his fringe.

"Kotetsu Hagane, Izumo Kamizuki, Asuma Sarutobi, Konohamaru Sarutobi, Moegi Kazamatsuri and Udon Ise." Iruka mumbled, his eyes fixed on an unknown spot on the table and Naruto's gut twisted with every name that fell from the agents lips. What had happened? "They were all found dead last night in the Sarutobi manor."

Naruto felt the colour drain from his face and he stared at the older man. No. No way. This couldn't be true.

"W-what?" He all but squeaked, resting his hands on the table. "This is some kind of joke, right?"

It _had_ to be. There was _no way_ this could be true. He had helped _raise_ Konohamaru. He _couldn't_  be dead. He _couldn't_.

Iruka shook his head and Naruto's stomach dropped.

"Some files were missing from Sarutobi's office." He continued, glaring a hole into the table and his fists clenched at his side. "More specifically, the Akatsuki case file."

Naruto's head snapped up, and he pounded his fists against the wood. "Then it's obvious, isn't it?" He shouted, unable to hide his rage any longer. "Those fucking... when I get my _hands_  on them I'll-."

"You'll do nothing." Iruka interrupted. "We're lucky our personal files weren't in there. You _won't_ bring any attention to yourself, is that clear?"

"So you'll happily commend the deaths of three _innocent_ _children_   as long as no one finds out you're sleeping with the other team, is that right?"

" _No_! But if you make _one_  wrong move, they'll know who you work for and those three children won't be the only people we bury." Naruto flinched as the older agent drew himself up to his full height, slamming his fists against the table and denting the wood. They glared at one another for several long minutes, neither one backing down. Naruto was shaking with barely contained anger; he could understand where the other man was coming from but Konohamaru and his friends were _kids_. What could anyone possible have gained from killing them? And _who_  was sick enough to even _do_  that?

His eyes widened and he sunk into his seat, not even realising that he'd stood up, and a conversation filtered through his mind.

_Jugo. I wouldn't put it past him to beat the snot out of you_

_Neji...?_

_If anyone, I would say it was him. I wouldn't be surprised if Kiba was involved somehow, too. I hate to admit it, but he scares me._

Iruka eyed the blond carefully. "What is it?"

"Jugo Tenbin and Kiba Inuzuka." He muttered, the fight all but draining from him for the time being. "I'd put money on one or both of them being involved. I don't know about Jugo, but I think Kiba's too stupid to come up with this in his own. So, I'd guess that Sasuke had _something_  to do with it, too, but..."

He trailed off as the doorbell rang through the house, making the agents jump though neither one moved to answer it. Iruka nodded at the new information.

"You're sure?" Naruto inclined his head and the doorbell rang again.

"He's had it out for me since Itachi called. He probably sent them to get the Akatsuki file to prove I'm working against them or something."

The doorbell rang again, this time accompanied by a hammering on the door and Naruto sighed, dragging himself from the chair and wrenching the door open. Kakashi beamed at him, holding two fingers up in greeting.

"Yo!" He said cheerfully. "Can I steal you?"

"What for?"

Kakashi tilted his head to one side, smile dropping slightly. "Romantic, candlelit dinner, just the two of us. Any of this ringing a bell?"

Naruto winced. He was in no shape to be alone with this man. "Can we rain check? I'm not in the mood."

Kakashi frowned and pulled the blond into a hug, eying Iruka watching them down the hall with narrowed eyes. "What's the matter?"

"I just got some bad news from home, is all."

"Want to talk about it?"

"No." YES. "Am I needed at the hotel tomorrow?" _Just not with you._

Kakashi shook his head and Naruto pushed him away, hand on the door, pushing it to before the man could ask anymore questions. "I need a personal day. I'll be in on Wednesday."

He closed the door with a snap and Kakashi glared at the frosted window for several, long seconds before turning on his heel and storming across the road. He slipped into his car and drove to the hotel, mind racing as he pulled into his parking spot and climbed out.

When he walked into the restaurant, he noticed Sasuke and Obito arguing in low voices, a manila envelope flapping in Sasuke's wild hand.

"What's going on?"

Sasuke snapped around to face him, glaring at the older man before turning to sneer at his cousin. "I have some important information here and this dip shit won't let me see Seven."

Obito sighed. "I can't let you see someone whose not even here, Sasuke."

"Bullshit, he's always here. Let me fu-."

Kakashi snatched the envelope from Sasuke's flailing hand and opened it before the younger Uchiha could complain. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as the man read quickly through the information, his expression darkening with each word.

"Where did you get this?" He growled, turning to the man. Sasuke visibly flinched.

"Sarutobi's." He hesitated before adding, "Last night."

Obito blanched, staring wide-eyed and open mouthed at his cousin. Kakashi's expression darkened even further and his knuckles whitened as he gripped the papers tighter.

"You were responsible for that?" He asked, his tone low and dangerous. Sasuke nodded weakly, backing away, the bravado he'd shown the previous night evaporating before this man. "That was all over the news today. Did you think of the repercussions before you-." Kakashi paused, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "Of course you didn't. I'll contact Seven and let him know. I'll expect he'll want to speak to you. Be in his office at nine."

He left then, seething with anger and only just about holding it back. He couldn't _believe_  Sasuke would be so fucking stupid. To attack the KMP in their heads _own_ _home_ and steal the _one_   _thing_  that would trace them back to them. What was going through Sasuke's head?

He growled, gritting his teeth and slamming open the office door, uncaring as he flopped down behind the desk and unlocked the top drawer. He dropped the envelope onto the desk and pulled an item from the drawer, slamming it down onto the floor desk next to the envelope.

He drew a heavy sigh as he flicked through the information. It was about as much as he'd expected. Six had been exceptionally good at covering his tracks and Seven, while not quite up to the same standard as Six, wasn't too shabby at it, either. The small amount of information that had been recently acquired was what that Hyuuga boy had managed to learn before his cousin spotted him. A couple of names, one or two faces but no concrete evidence. Nothing that would hold up in any court.

Kakashi sighed again. It would be a long evening.

**\----X----**

Sasuke was early. Ten minutes early, in fact, and he paced nervously in front of Sevens closed office door. The look on Kakashi's face earlier had told him everything he needed to know. He was out. Kakashi and Seven had had enough of his shit, enough of his mistakes. And this was his last one. He was literally a walking corpse.

Kakashi had always hated him, never been secretive of the fact, and only tolerated him because he was Fugaku's son, Obito's cousin. And Seven always, _always_  listened to Kakashi.

He looked up and stopped pacing when he heard footsteps approaching him and swallowed thickly. Obito and his Great Uncle Madara strode towards him, towards the office, twin expressions of seriousness and anger on their faces and they ignored him as they entered the office, without knocking. Sasuke caught a glimpse of Seven sat behind the desk before the door swung shut and he swallowed again.

This did not look good.

A few minutes later and the door opened. Sasuke entered without a word and refused to look his cousin in the eye. He strode into the room until he was stood before Sevens desk, keeping his head down as he waited for the inevitable.

It didn't surprise his when Madara spoke from behind him.

"What did you think was going to happen?" He asked and his tone was light, taunting, and it made Sasuke's skin crawl. "What we want to know is why?"

Sasuke grit his teeth; Madara was baiting him, he knew it. " _Why_  what, sir?"

"Speak up, Sasuke. No one likes it when you mutter."

" _Why_ what, sir?" He repeated, louder. A hand landed on his shoulder and he jumped, but didn't look up.

"Sorry, what was that?"

" _Why_  what?" He snapped, loosing his patience. Madara grinned, Sasuke had fallen for it.

"Manners, Sasuke." He said quietly, his hand moving from Sasuke's shoulder to his hair and his grip tightened as he leant in. "Or did all my lessons on manners fly out of your head, along with your reasoning?"

The younger Uchiha couldn't hold back the cry of pain as his head was wrenched backwards. He bit his lip against any other noises, forcing himself not to glare at his uncle whose eyes gleamed with something dangerous.

"Madara." Obito warned, fingers gripping the older mans and forcing him to let go. Sasuke gasped as his hair was released and he dropped his gaze down to meet the single eye of Seven.

The masked man raised his chin as a chance for Sasuke to explain himself. So the youngest Uchiha launched into his story, telling them quickly and efficiently what Shikamaru had found out for him and why he decided - rather brashly, even he could admit that - to break into Hiruzen Sarutobi's manor. He glossed over the children's involvement - most especially his... _interrogation_  of Udon - making it seem more like they'd seen intruders attacking Asuma and, in the heat of the moment, Sasuke got rid of them, simply because he didn't want any witnesses. He nodded to himself when he finished speaking, knowing that that would be the most logical solution in an illogical (and unnecessary) situation and hopefully his superiors would agree with him.

Sasuke looked to the masked man but waited with baited breath for his cousin to speak; Seven, for all he knew, had never spoken a word to anyone but Obito and Kakashi and he wondered, not for the first time, who was hiding behind that mask.

A gloved finger tapped the screen before him and Obito moved to read what was written. He nodded once and stepped away from the masked man, standing to his right, his expression giving away nothing to Sasuke. It must have been obvious to Madara, for the man seethed with rage behind Sasuke, muttering curses under his breath.

"Purely because some of the information was interesting, you're being given a final chance." Obito told him and Sasuke felt his whole body relax. "Fuck up one more time and we'll remove you from your position. Forcefully."

Madara stormed from the room then, disappointed he couldn't throw the youngest Uchiha around a little, and Sasuke bowed to the masked man, a silent thank you for his leniency once again and turned to leave as well. He paused at the door, fingers hugging the doorknob as a question danced at the forefront of his mind. He turned back to look at them as he spoke.

"Can I ask what interested you?"

There was a brief hesitation before the masked man shook his head, fingers twitching on the desk. Sasuke's eyes caught the movement and he saw the second, thinner file under the mans twitching fingers. He raised an eyebrow, intrigued, but otherwise said nothing, only inclining his head before turning to leave.

Obito locked the door behind his cousin and turned to face his boss, brows furrowed as the masked mans face was revealed.

"That's a valid question, actually." He said, taking a seat on the other side of the desk. "What was it?"

Sevens fingers twitched again as they hovered over the second file and he frowned at it. "It's difficult to explain." He mumbled. "There's someone I need to talk to, hopefully he can clear some things up. If he does, I'll let you know."

They rose to their feet in unison and the mask was back in place as they moved to the door.

"I'll be at home if you need me." Seven muttered as the lock clicked open. Obito nodded and followed his boss from the room, locking the door behind him and watching as the masked man disappeared behind the elevator doors.


End file.
